TEAM GB put on a strong display on home waters on day nine of the Olympic sailing regatta.

Portland ’s Luke Patience and Stuart Bithell kept the pressure up on their Australian rivals in the men’s 470 fleet yesterday.

The British duo produced a strong day on the water as they closed the gap down to just a single point with three races left in the regatta following finishes of first and sixth in their two races of the day.

Meanwhile, Portland’s Ali Young produced another strong performance to finish fifth in the women’s laser radial in her first Olympic Games.

Young needed a minor miracle to claim a medal, being so many points behind, but managed to finish the double points medal race in fourth place to secure a spot in the top five behind Ireland’s Annalise Murphy.

Meanwhile, Weymouth’s Paul Goodison completed the defence of his Olympic laser class title.

He had been struggling with a serious back injury and went into the final race out of contention for the medals, but still produced a fine race to finish third end his defence in seventh position overall.

But in the men’s 49er, Stevie Morrison and Ben Rhodes dropped off the pace in the battle for medals.

The 49er medal race is scheduled for 1pm tomorrow and with each point worth two in that race Exmouth’s Morrison and Rhodes still have a medal in their sights.

Helm Morrison, 33, said: “We have now got a fantastic opportunity to go out there in the medal race and put in a great performance.

“Given how random that course is we should go in with a good chance of winning a bronze medal.”

The duo recovered well from a poor first race where they finished 17th to achieve a seventh in their final race, but they go into tomorrow’s final medal race in fifth place six points behind bronze medal position.