Olympic sailing champ Ainslie disqualified at worlds

Triple Olympic gold medallist Ben Ainslie's title hopes have been torpedoed by a double disqualification after an angry altercation at the ISAF World Sailing Championships. The British star was disqualified from both his Finn races on Saturday at the event in Western Australia, slumping from first place overall to 11th, meaning he misses Sunday's medal race, featuring only the top 10 competitors. Ainslie was found guilty of gross misconduct at a jury hearing late Saturday after a sensational turn of events at the conclusion of the day's first race. Just after finishing second in the race, a furious Ainslie boarded a media boat that caused a wash that he believed hampered him in the closing stages. The Briton argued with the skipper and made physical contact with a cameraman, before jumping back over the side and returning to his boat. Ainslie then suffered a black flag disqualification in the following race to cap a dramatic day. In a statement released after the jury hearing, Ainslie said emotion had got the better of him. "On the final downwind leg I was hindered by a media boat, the actions of which I felt were seriously impeding my race," Ainslie said. "In the heat of the moment I boarded the media boat to make my views known to the crew. "I realised that was an inappropriate course of action and have already apologised to those concerned." However, Ainslie also said he felt the penalty was too severe. "I'm very sorry that the jury decided to react the way they did over something which really wasn't as big as it was blown up to be," he said. As a result, Ainslie's countryman, Giles Scott, takes a three-point lead into the medal race.