Pavlos Kontides climbed into a share of first place at the European Sailing Championship in Croatia on Wednesday after a strong series of performances in the opening final races of the ILCA 7 competition.

The two-time Olympic silver medallist finished seventh, third and second across Wednesday’s three races, allowing him to rise from ninth place at the start of the final phase to joint leader of the standings alongside New Zealander George Gautrey.

Both sailors now have 23 penalty points after the opening races in the gold fleet.

Germany’s Philipp Buhl is third overall with 27 points, with five more regattas scheduled for Thursday and Friday.

Kontides entered the European Championship following victory at the Open Croatian Sailing Championship earlier this month, which he described as “very good preparation” ahead of the main event in Kastela near Split.

At that regatta, Kontides secured overall victory after recording finishes of sixth, first, second and eighth, while discarding a nineteenth-place result under competition rules.

The Cypriot sailor returned to international competition this season at the Hyeres Grand Slam after missing the opening event of the year because of illness.

He finished eighth overall in France and arrived in Croatia ranked third in the world in the ILCA 7 category.