PORTLAND’S sailing stars Luke Patience and Stuart Bithell know they have won at least a silver medal at their first ever Olympic Games.

But the Team GB duo, who compete in the 470 men’s dinghy class, hope to upgrade it to a ‘shinier’ gold one in tomorrow’s medal race showdown with Australia.

Olympic debutants Patience, 26, and Bithell, 25, said they have sailed ‘the regatta of their lives’, achieving top four scores in most of their 10 races so far in the 27-boat fleet.

With scores of third and second yesterday in their final two fleet races, they are placed second overall with a lead so great ahead of the fleet that they cannot do worse in tomorrow’s double-point race for the top 10 boats than silver.

Their Australia rivals Mathew Belcher and Malcolm Page, are also well ahead of the fleet, their two ‘bullets’ – wins – yesterday giving them a four point lead ahead of the Brits.

It means Patience and Bithell will need to finish with one boat between them and their Australian rivals to claim gold.

The pair were greeted with hugs by their Olympian teammates Iain Percy and Paul Goodison and the 470 Girls Hannah Mills and Saskia Clark when they returned to the sailing venue.

After protesting all week that it was not a two-horse race between Britain and Australia, the duo admitted ‘now it is.’ Bithell, of Weston, said: “It feels fantastic to have already secured silver, it probably hasn’t sunk in properly yet.

“We’ve got a day off then we’ll get cracking and see if we can get one colour shinier.”

He added: “We are primed and ready to attack - we are ready.

“It’s absolutely certain that they will come hunting us down for us to finish last and second last so it’s going to be a good one to watch that’s for sure.

“We’re going to need that crowd now more than ever.

“We are on the podium already so are over the moon.

“We have nothing to lose and everything to gain.”

Helm Patience said the shifty winds of the Nothe course could work in their favour.

He said: “It’s hard to defend on that course, I’d sooner be attacking than defending on the Nothe.

“We are just going to go out there to do all we can.

“It’s our first Olympics , we are happy boys but we didn’t come here to get second, we came here to win the Olympic Games and that is firmly within our grasp.”

The Men’s 470 medal race is scheduled to take place at 1pm tomorrow on the spectator Nothe course.