WORLD windsurfing champion Nick Dempsey is in pole position at the Skandia Sail for Gold regatta despite being hampered by a back injury.

Weymouth’s Athens bronze medallist star finished the third day of racing in first place at the seventh and final instalment of this year’s International Sailing Federation (ISAF) Sailing World Cup regatta.

He enjoyed a great day in which he scored a first and a second.

Dempsey, 29, of Wyke Regis, was delighted with his position at the Weymouth and Portland Sailing. Academy.

He said: “The difficult thing was the starts yesterday, you could win or lose the race by the way you performed on the line so it was really important to ensure a safe start.”

Prior to fifth annual Sail for Gold, the RS:X windsurfer feared he would not be ‘on-form’ after a serious back injury meant he missed three weeks of training at a critical time.

But despite Portland Harbour testing the sailors with winds gusting up to 30 knots on Tuesday, Dempsey secured first place in the world class fleet.

He said: “It’s going well, we’ve been having a real mix of weather conditions. It would be nice to get some light winds to mix it up a bit.

“Tuesday’s sailing in the strong winds was all right, I didn’t feel any back pain so that was really good.

“I’m just trying not to aggravate it and stretch a lot in the mornings.”

The windsurfer has enjoyed moving a mile up the road to be part of the ‘Team GB bubble’ with his Skandia Team GBR counterparts.

The top two British sailors in each class are based at RYA Portland House at Osprey Quay for the duration of Sail for Gold.

Dempsey said: “It’s brilliant, really nice to get the team atmosphere. Everyone’s kind of on it.”

He joked that the evenings were ‘all about the table tennis’ and added: “I’m enjoying the Team GB bubble. Skandia Team GBR always stands out at these events.

“We’re just trying to be as professional as we can be with everything, on and off the water.”

Meanwhile, the Skud-18 got back on the water yesterday, after missing out the previous day when the breeze made sailing impossible.

Aussies Daniel Fitzgibbon and Rachael Cox had an outstanding day with three bullets to take a three-point lead from Portland’s Alexandra Rickham and Niki Birrell.

World Laser champion Paul Goodison completed his first victory in his class for the overall lead, while Sarah Dempsey and Saskia Clarke are in 20th place in the 470s.

Almost 1,000 athletes from 56 nations are taking part in this year’s Skandia Sail for Gold regatta.

Find the latest results and details about free Spectator Day event tickets from the website skandiasailforgoldregatta.co.uk n laura.kitching@dorsetecho.co.uk