WITH just tomorrow's final race remaining for the women's 470 fleet, Ireland's Denise Lyttle and Louise Ann Cole have a hard battle ahead if they are to finish in the top 10 of their class. A healthy eighth place in yesterday's first race kept them in 13th place, but the second discard would bring them higher possibly into 10th or 11th.

However, a disastrous second race, in which the pair had to claw up from the back of the 22-boat fleet saw them finish 16th, a result that used up t)he second valuable discard and brought them into 12th overall. At one stage, the Irish crew were trailing in last place, but their superior boatspeed gradually lifted them up the fleet.

This means that pressure for a top 10 result relies on the final race. To achieve that they must finish high enough to gain at least nine points and oust Norway's Anderson sisters in 10th place. Ninth, or better, appears unlikely with nearly 20 points the difference. Lyttle and Cole have overtaken America's Cup helm Leslie Egnot from New Zealand while Britain's Bethan Raggatt is next in their sights.

At the front of the fleet, Spain's Theresa Zabell has regained the lead from Yumiko Shige of Japan in a closely sailed battle for gold. The Ukranian Ruslana Taran is trying to match their male teammates, who took gold in the men's 470 yesterday by holding third place over Kris Stookey of the United States.

Meanwhile, today sees Mark Lyttle and Aisling Bowman sail their final races in the Laser and Europe fleets respectively. Both currently hold top 10 positions and, if maintained, will be the best of the Irish team at Savannah. The Soling match-racing also gets underway with the final match scheduled for Friday.