Saturday is the start of the Medal Races, where the top ten boats in each fleet sail in a double points scoring race. The Gold, Silver and Bronze medals will be presented immediately after the conclusion of each Medal Race.

Melbourne has turned on a slightly different weather pattern, with light winds, initially from a westerly direction, being predicted for all areas monitored using weather models.

As competitors arrived in the boat park early in the morning, the breeze had already settled into the predicted westerly direction and was hopefully going to build to more than the predicted strength of 2-4kts for the morning.

From late morning the breeze is predicted to slowly swing south, but will not increase significantly in average strength - building to an average of 7kts, meaning that allowing for gusts, the breeze should go to about 10kts. Temperatures are predicted to be in the low twenties, with the southerly wind direction helping to cool the surrounding landmass.

Those conditions are very similar to Friday, where competitors reported big shifts in direction and variable strength. In the classes continuing with their fleet racing schedule it will be a day for consistent, rather than brilliant, performances.

Medal Races will be held in five of the Olympic classes to the following schedule:

12:00 - Women's One Person Dinghy, Laser Radial
12;50 - Men's One Person Dinghy, Laser
13:40 - Men's One Person Heavyweight Dinghy, Finn
14.30 - Women's Two Person Dinghy, 470
15:20 - Men's Two Person Dinghy, 470

The remaining five classes will continue to compete in the fleet racing section of the regatta to determine which ten boats will make the cut for the Medal Races on Sunday, the final day of the regatta.

The Nacra 17 mixed multihull started at 10.00 and is scheduled to sail three races. The RS: X Men's and Women's Windsurfers will start at 13.00 and have three races scheduled. The 49er and 49er FX start their final session of racing at 15.30, sailing four races to catch up on their schedule.

All Medal Races will be sailed on the Stadium Course in front of the Sandringham Yacht Club, providing an excellent vantage point for spectators.

ISAF Sailing World Cup Melbourne

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