PORTLAND-based Stuart Bithell and Dylan Fletcher rose to second ahead of the final 49er medal race at the Volvo 49er, 49erFX and Nacra 17 European Championships.

Elsewhere, Weymouth's Charlotte Dobson and Saskia Tidey endured a tough day as they slipped to seventh.

Fletcher said the duo did not think they had a great day and admitted it had been 'a tricky one'.

Fletcher said: "Day six of this marathon Europeans and it was a bit of a tricky one. We didn't think we'd had a very good day but as it turns out we've moved up into second.

"We're actually further away from the gold though so that's a bit disappointing. There's still one fleet race and a medal race left so hopefully we'll go out tomorrow and come back European champions."

James Peters and Fynn Sterritt posted trio of top results in the 49er to move up to fourth.

Ben Saxton and Nikki Boniface in the Nacra 17 continue their ascent up table as a two, one, two moves them into second.

John Gimson and Anna Burnet also in the Nacra 17 sit just behind, as they maintained third overall.

There was a valiant late charge from Sophie Weguelin and Sophie Ainsworth in the 49erFX but it proved too little too late, as they miss the medal race in 14th.

The 49ers will contest one more fleet race to complete the final series tomorrow, while the medal racing for the top 10 in each fleet starts at 3pm.