The only person who could touch Wright was team mate Giles Scott (GBR) and while Scott sailed a sound race, a seventh place was never going to be enough to take gold, though it was enough to keep Gasper Vincec (SLO) and Zach Railey (USA) at bay and secure the silver medal. Scott had not performed particularly well in critical medal races in the 2009 season, but perhaps now has gained enough confidence to handle the situations better.

For the medal race, the winds remained generally light even thought there were forecasts of more. After a good start for both Bryan Boyd (USA) and Zach Railey (USA) at the pin end, Boyd eventually emerged ahead to lead throughout to take his first race win of the week and move up two places to end the week a very creditable fifth overall.

Team mate Railey did not fare so well. Needing to keep fourth placed Vincec in check, while also having a chance at snatching the silver from Scott, Railey came off worst on both accounts, finishing sixth in the race to drop one place to 4^th overall and drop of the podium. Railey did himself no favours Friday with a double yellow flag when he lost valuable points on the leaders.

Meanwhile Vincec was allowed to sail his best and finished second in the race behind Boyd, to snatch the bronze from Railey’s clutches by just a single point. Vincec said, “The racing in Miami is always difficult. but I like it, and we have fun out there. Back at home it’s snowing so you can imagine that it’s nice to be here.”

“The races have all been about getting good starts and speed because it’s more or less one sided sailing, but still difficult even when you are in front”

Vincec has been out of the Finn since Hyeres last year so this really is a return to form. “I did sail the Gold Cup last year because I missed going sailing, but my preparation for this season was based in Valencia with Rafa. The training went well so I’m fresh and I think I have much better concentration and psychical preparation.”

After his two race wins Friday, third place in the medal race and sixth overall went to rising French star Jonathan Lobert (FRA). Lobert, who has been in the Finn for four year now, trains with fellow Frenchman Thomas Le Breton (FRA), who only started in the Finn last year, and the two have shown a gradual progression through the ranks and can be justifiably content with their performance this week. If their current progress is anything to go by, it won’t be long before they are challenging for podium places.

The 2010 Rolex Miami OCR is over and the ISAF Sailing World Cup picks up again in Europe in March for the Princesa Sofia Trophy in Palma.

Top 10 after medal race

1 GBR 11 Edward Wright 1 2 [19] 1 4 1 1 3 5 2 8 28.00

2 GBR 41 Giles Scott 2 7 1 3 3 3 [8] 6 2 7 14 48.00

3 SLO 5 Gasper Vincec 5 12 5 8 [19] 2 7 1 3 5 4 52.00

4 USA 4 Zach Railey 4 5 4 4 1 5 4 5 9 [36/DNS] 12 53.00

5 USA 14 Bryan Boyd 12 4 [18] 2 2 6 10 4 15 9 2 66.00

6 FRA 112 Jonathan Lobert 8 [25] 8 7 15 14 6 2 1 1 6 68.00

7 NOR 1 Peer Moberg 7 8 6 9 6 8 [13] 11 8 3 10 76.00

8 ESP 100 Rafael Trujillo 14 6 3 6 7 7 5 7 [18] 6 18 79.00

9 FRA 115 Thomas Le Breton 11 9 2 5 5 [20] 11 9 4 8 20 84.00

10 RUS 9 Skornyakov Eduard 6 3 [13] 12 13 4 9 10 11 4 16 88.00

Overnight leader Wright placed 5-2 and will lead into the medal race by a useful 14 point margin over team mate Scott who produced a 2-7. Third placed Railey lost some of his advantage and now trails Scott by 7 points, with race eight winner Gasper Vincec just 7 points further back.

However there was no great changes after the final two qualification races. Though sailors swapped positions inside the top 10, no-one moved in or out of the top 10. All this means that the gold medal is between Wright and Scott, the silver is between Wright, Scott, Railey and Vincec and the bronze is between Scott, Railey and Vincec.

Rafa Trujillo (ESP) lost his chances of a medal with an 18-6 to end the day in 5th overall, but with too large a points gap on Vincec.

After his double race win, Lobart climbed from 10th to 6th, but is also still too far adrift to take a medal. He said, “Today it was great sailing for I had two very good starts and my speed was very good so I could easily do what I liked. I went on the left side where the wind was more consistent and it was clearly proved to be the right choice. I am very happy with this and I hope to do as good in the medal race.”

So the medal races line up looks like this:

Ed Wright (GBR) – Winner of the 2009 ISAF Sailing World Cup, 2006 European Champion and dominated this week so far against a high standard fleet.

Giles Scott (GBR) – 2008 Junior World Champion. Generally did not perform well in medal races last year, but has been unusually consistent this week.

Zach Railey (USA) – 2008 Olympic Silver Medalist and runner-up in last year’s Gold Cup. Will be disappointed not to be in the hunt for the gold.

Gasper Vincec (SLO) – Return to form for the Slovenian after a break since last year’s Gold Cup. Could easily snatch a medal after slow start to the regatta.

Rafael Trujillo (ESP) – 2004 Olympic Silver Medalist and 2007 World Champion. Expected to be in with a medal chance but too many high scores on the board.

Jonathan Lobert (FRA) – Apart from Wright, the only other sailor to win more than one race this week and has clearly shown he has to speed to win, but can’t take a medal.

Bryan Boyd (USA) – Plenty of flair to win races. Won the opening race of last year’s Gold Cup but has not generally been consistent enough this week.

Thomas Le Breton (FRA) – Second year in the Finn and improving all the time. Only three points off fourth place.

Peer Moberg (NOR) – Won the 2007 Rolex Miami OCR and has been pretty consistent all week, though too far adrift to make the podium this year.

Eduard Skornyakov (RUS) – 2007 European Champion. Seems to enjoy the lighter winds more and only 11 points off fifth place, so there could be a large shuffle in the lower half of the fleet after the medal race.

Standings after 10 races

1 GBR 11 Wright, Edward GBR 1 2 [19] 1 4 1 1 3 5 2 20.00
2 GBR 41 Scott, Giles GBR 2 7 1 3 3 3 [8] 6 2 7 34.00
3 USA 4 Railey, Zach USA 4 5 4 4 1 5 4 5 9 [36/DNS] 41.00
4 SLO 5 Vincec, Gasper SLO 5 12 5 8 [19] 2 7 1 3 5 48.00
5 ESP 100 Trujillo, Rafael ESP 14 6 3 6 7 7 5 7 [18] 6 61.00
6 FRA 112 Lobert, Jonathan FRA 8 [25] 8 7 15 14 6 2 1 1 62.00
7 USA 14 Boyd, Bryan USA 12 4 [18] 2 2 6 10 4 15 9 64.00
8 FRA 115 Le Breton, Thomas FRA 11 9 2 5 5 [20] 11 9 4 8 64.00
9 NOR 1 Moberg, Peer NOR 7 8 6 9 6 8 [13] 11 8 3 66.00
10 RUS 9 Eduard, Skornyakov RUS 6 3 [13] 12 13 4 9 10 11 4 72.00