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	*NEWS*

Britain win third gold on Sydney Harbour

By Paul Tait SYDNEY, (Reuters) - Britain rounded out their best Olympic sailing performance in 92 years when Iain Percy won the Finn dinghy class gold medal at the Sydney Games on Saturday and a pair united in tragedy claimed silver. The United States won their first sailing gold in Sydney when Mark Reynolds and Magnus Liljedahl pounced on an error by defending Olympic Star class champion Torben Grael of Brazil. But Britain had already stolen the show, with Percy's Finn success giving Britain its biggest Olympic sailing haul since four golds in the 1908 Games. Percy, the 1999 European champion, held an unbeatable lead after race 10 in the men's single-handed Finn class when his nearest rival, Fredrik Loof of Sweden, failed to make up enough ground to mount a challenge in the final race. ``I feel really tired, and pretty damn pleased,'' Percy said. With each competitor allowed to discard their worst two finishes in the 11-race series, Percy placed 14th in race 10. The 24-year-old from Southampton did not start in the final race and discarded both results. Loof was eventually pushed into bronze medal placing, with Italy's Luca Devoti winning silver. Percy completely dominated the early stages of the men's single-handed dinghy class, claiming three firsts among six top five placings. BRITS MISS GOLD BY ONE POINT Britain's best previous Olympic sailing performance was a four-gold haul in the 1908 Games. Scot Shirley Robertson won the women's Europe dinghy class on Friday and Ben Ainslie took the gold in the open Laser dinghy class. Britain also claimed silver on Saturday in the two-handed Star keelboat class, with Ian Walker and Mark Covell crossing the line third in race 11 to finish a single point behind the U.S. winners. The British pair only started sailing together late last year after their previous sailing partners were killed. Walker won a silver medal in Atlanta crewing with good friend John Merricks in the men's 470 dinghy class. Merricks died when a car he and Walker were passengers in overturned on a hill in Italy in 1997. Covell formerly sailed with Briton Glyn Charles, who was washed overboard during the gale-swept Sydney-Hobart race in 1998. His body was never found. Walker and Covell met at a memorial service for Charles. ``It is a very emotional time at the moment and of course I dedicate it to Glyn,'' Covell said of his medal. Walker added: ``You can't underestimate the effect both of those individuals have had on us.'' Ian Barker and Simon Hiscocks also won silver for Britain in the open 49er class last week. In a dramatic day on a sparkling Sydney Harbour, Brazilian skipper Grael threw away his chance of a second successive gold medal when he was disqualified for crossing the start line early in race 11, allowing the Americans to jump from third to first. Grael had led by five points before Saturday's disastrous mistake. He and crewman Marcelo Ferreira had to settle for the bronze medal. Reynolds, winner of gold and silver medals in 1992 and 1988, also had his boat across the start line early but returned in time to start again. The incident appeared to make little difference as the Americans raced into second place by the first mark behind Canada's Ross MacDonald and Kai Bjorn, a position they held until the end.