The British sailor sat joint top of the rankings at the start of the day with the Russian Yachting Federation's (RYF) Sergei Komissarov on 15 points after five races.

However, today's racing saw him record 24^th, 26^th and 69^th place finishes with the 27-year-old retiring on the latter after a torrid day.

Komissarov also fell down the table, although not as drastically, as he placed eighth, 24^th and 35^th.

Using his discard on the last race allows him to sit just outside the podium places in fourth.

New Zealander Thomas Saunders, who was in third yesterday, took advantage of his rivals' shortcomings with a trio of stellar performances.

The Tauranga native confidently took first in the day's opening race in Spain with Australia's Zac Littlewood and Duko Bos of The Netherlands claiming silver and bronze respectively.

Saunders' form then slipped slightly in the second race as he crossed the line in fourth with Komissarov securing the win.

An impressive recovery then saw him finish in second place to close out the day and secure his outright place at the top of the table on 23 net points after discarding a 37^th place in the fifth event.

Finn Lynch lies in second on 37 points after taking seventh, second and first place finishes in today's respective races while Tonči Stipanović rounded out the top three on 65 points.