THOM TOUW PHOTOGRAPHY

Sam Meech is third going into the final day at the Laser European championships in France.

New Zealand sailor Sam Meech had a tough time of it on the penultimate day of the Laser European championships in France, but such was his good form earlier in the regatta, he's still eyeing up a maiden title win on Saturday night (NZ time).

The 27-year-old struggled in La Rochelle in his latest outing, staging a big comeback in the first race to come back from the tail of the 54-boat gold fleet to finish 17th - currently his second discard - then backing it up with an eighth-place finish in the second race.

Meech has won medals in his last three regattas, including silver at last month's World Cup in Hyeres, and goes into the final day of the European champs in third, seven points behind leader Matt Wearn, of Australia. World Champion Pavlos Kontides (Cyprus) is sandwiched in between in second, four points behind Wearn.

Andrew McKenzie also had his issues on day five, particularly after he was badly impeded in the second race by a fellow sailor who was eventually disqualified, and now sits 10th overall.

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Unlike many top regattas, the Laser Europeans don't have a double points top 10 medal race. Instead, two races will be sailed to decide the title, meaning a lot can still change with plenty of points on the table.

"I had a tough day today," Meech admitted. "Race one was rough as I missed a big opportunity and had to make a big comeback from there. I rounded the first mark in the 50s so it was still an ok comeback. The problem is some guys had two top-10 results.

"It wasn't all bad. I was up there in race two with a good start and sailed ok. I imagine I will need at least one if not two good races tomorrow because I would rather not count the 17 from today if possible. It's still all to play for."

There are plenty of others still in the mix including Germany's Philipp Buhl, Michael Beckett from Great Britain and Olympic champion Tom Burton (Australia).

McKenzie will need everything to go his way if he is to force his way onto the podium. He's 23 points adrift of Meech after a ninth and a 26th, and there was little consolation from the fact he won a protest.

"It was a pretty frustrating day," he said. "Someone infringed me pretty badly at the bottom gate in race two which really screwed my rounding and threw me off my rhythm. I got pushed out the wrong side and it all sort of went backwards from there. There were still plenty of opportunities to convert that race but, unfortunately, I missed them all. 

"I'll have to be aggressive tomorrow if I want a shot at the podium. I need things to go my way but I'll be trying my best to win both races and move up overall."

Marit Bouwmeester (Netherlands) took charge of the Laser Radial competition and heads into the final day with an 11-point lead over American Paige Railey. Kiwis Susannah Pyatt and Olivia Christie sit 37th and 45th overall respectively.

 - Stuff