Young Brit storms to victory in Laser
The now daily storm rumbled in to drench the fleet and interrupt the Olympic regatta again on Thursday, but failed to halt precocious British yachtsman Ben Ainslie's climb in the Laser class.

The 19-year-old has recovered from a dreadful start in the 11-race competition to be one point behind world champion Robert Scheidt of Brazil (15 points) after six heats.

Ainslie logged a second-place finish and a victory in Thursday's two races, coming in behind Scheidt in the fifth heat, then turning the tables in wild conditions.

Scheidt, ever the fighter, capsized in the second race of the day as the storm homed in on Wassaw Sound, but recovered to close on Ainslie and finish third behind the Briton and New Zealand's Hamish Pepper, who also took a swim en route.

Three of the four days of competition have been affected by storms and officials are scrambling to reschedule events.

A howling wind gusting to 35 knots and driving rain punched a hole in the proceedings on Thursday but not before brilliant Kristine Roug from Denmark had cemented her place at the top of the Europe class and the three-victory run of Australian Colin Beashel came to a halt in the Stars.

Ainslie, the son of a Whitbread Round the World sailor and one of the best young competitors on the world scene, was pleased the Lasers were able to race before the storm.

"I felt I had things going today, I'm on my way," he said.

Ainslie finished 27th in the first race of the series, getting a valuable lesson in the Olympic sailing technique--stay out of traffic.

"It's different because, unlike other internationals where just about everyone is very good, there's a mixture here, some just OK and about 20 really great," he said.

Brazil's Torben Grael and Marcelo Ferreira won the Star class race and took the class lead by one point from the Australian Beashel and his crew David Giles. Another Brazilian, Christoph Bergmann, was atop the Finn standings.

In the 470s, Spain's Teresa Zabell, defending her title with a new partner, came in second in heat two to share the lead with the Ukraine team. Hong Kong's Lai Shan Lee, looking for her country's first Olympic gold, shook loose of her New Zealand rival Barbara Kendall in the women's Mistral.

In the one men's board race on Thursday world champion Nikolas Kaklamanakis from Greece was always in control and his win left him alone at the top of the standings. Competition in the Tornado and Soling classes will resume on Friday.

This update prepared by Reuters