Three-times Olympic gold medallist Ben Ainslie has said his body is “slowly letting him down” as he gets older.

But the 35-year-old Lymington-based sailing champion said he is still confident in his ability on the water and will draw on his previous experience ahead of this summer’s Games.

Ainslie suffered defeat in the Sail For Gold regatta earlier this month as Giles Scott – who missed out on an Olympic place to Ainslie – beat him in the Finn class.

That prompted concern about Ainslie’s prospects for London 2012 despite him having won the world championships just two weeks before.

Full story in today's Daily Echo.