Helena Lucas maintained her lead at the top of the 2.4mR standings after what she described as a “pretty tough” day in Rio today.

The defending champion picked up counter scores of a fourth and third from two of their three races today, sandwiching a second race protest room disqualification for infringing Fia Fjelddahl (SWE), to hold a two-point overall advantage over Matthew Bugg (AUS) with six races still to come in the Paralympic regatta.

In breezy conditions of between 16-22 knots on the Pão de Açúcar (Sugarloaf) course, which Lucas compared to being in a “washing machine” being sat so close to the water in the 2.4mR, every race ended up a battle as the Brit wasn’t the only boat finding herself doing penalty turns due to the extremely close nature of the racing.

And, despite now carrying a disqualification for her discarded score – she had provisionally finished 10th in that race – Lucas, who trains at the Weymouth & Portland Sailing Academy, admits she was just pleased to have come through the day relatively unscathed on the overall scoresheet.

She said: “Today was pretty tough, I seemed to spend most of my day doing turns! I feel like I didn’t sail that well so there is a lot to work on, which is some ways good. I think now it is about minimising mistakes, being more aware, a little bit more switched on. Keep it simple and keep it clean and no more spinning.

“I feel like I have been thrown in a washing machine. It was massive chop, not the kind of chop that 2.4mRs particularly like, so it was incredibly wet. I’m actually cold! When are you ever cold in Brazil?

“But it was good to have a bit of breeze, it makes the regatta fairer all round if you have all the conditions. Having breeze and light conditions just makes it an all-round challenge across the whole event.”

Lucas’ day started on the back foot as she ended up doing her first penalty turns of the day before race one even got away for infringing Bugg, before taking her second lot of spins in race two – the race she was ultimately disqualified from – for another infringement against Dee Smith (USA).

But she was pleased with the battling spirit she displayed in the final race of the day, the fifth race of their series overall, which saw her finish in the top three.

Lucas added: “I was fourth in the first race which, considering my start, I’d take that. The last race was much better but it was a hard race. It just went crazy right under the Sugarloaf so there were massive shifts at the top, it was all a bit wacky, but I managed to get a third so finished on a high note after a pretty tough day.”

The 2.4mR class is scheduled to resume their 11-race series with three more races scheduled tomorrow from 4pm (BST). The final series race, after which the medals will be awarded, is on Saturday.