Sailing trio bid for honours

Iain Percy is preparing to set sail in the Finn

BBC sailing commentator Richard Simmonds looks forward to three of Britain's best medal prospects performing at the Olympics on Saturday.

Saturday will see the end of the waiting game for Iain Percy in the Finn, and Ian Walker and Mark Covell in the Star keelboat.

The trio have had to keep themselves busy while their team-mates have been battling it out on the race track.

Percy is arguably British sailing's best gold medal hope.

A former Laser sailing rival of Ben Ainslie, Percy moved into the Finn Class as he felt his physique was too large for the Laser.

He has worked tirelessly to turn himself into the perfect machine for Finn racing, concentrating on his endurance fitness.

Ian Walker is in the Star keelboat

In his first serious outing in the Finn, Percy earned a bronze medal at the 1998 Finn European Championships.

By 1999, he was beating the very best, including Atlanta gold medallist Mateutz Kusnierewicz from Poland and silver medallist, Belgium's Sebastien Gotefroid.

He topped the podium at the European Championships and won the pre-Olympic Regatta in Sydney.

Percy is new to Olympic competition while Ian Walker has tasted the second best thing the Games can deliver - his silver medal in 1996 crewing the late John Merricks' boat.

This time, he is steering in the Star Class in a partnership born out of tragedy.

Accident

His crewmate Mark Covell formerly sailed with Glyn Charles, who died in the 1998 Sydney-Hobart Race, and John Merricks was killed in a car accident.

The Star Class is dominated by teams who have climbed their way up the learning curve through many years on the international circuit.

This is an incredibly technical boat to sail.

Walker and Covell are already seen as premier league players - fifth in this year's world championships and winners of the SPA Olympic Regatta in Holland where many of the Olympic favourites were in action.

Brazil (Atlanta gold medallists), Australia (bronze in Atlanta). America (2000 Star world champions) and Canada (2000 Star world championship silver medallists) are just four of the other teams bidding for gold.