The National Yacht Club's Finn Lynch made the gold fleet in French Olympic Sailing Week on Wednesday, but a U-flag disqualification for a premature start means he is now unlikely to compete in Saturday's medal race final.
The ILCA 7 fleet completed their minimum five race races to make the qualification cut.
A black flag disqualification for early-starting in Wednesday's delayed opening race had seemed set to scupper Lynch's Gold fleet chances, but the World Number 3 has made the top third of his 155-boat fleet, even nursing his long-term wrist injury.
"He's made Gold fleet, and there are still four races, so everything is open, but the Black Flag makes it very difficult as there's only one discard," Lynch's coach Vasilij Zbogar said.
"We are going to treat this regatta as a training event and focus on the areas we need to improve on", he said.
One of the areas identified was a lack of upwind speed in strong winds, but forecasts say it is unlikely these conditions will be replicated in the Bay of Hyeres again this week.
Lynch will know that improvements will need to come fast as the all-important Paris 2024 Olympic Qualifier in The Hague – with 40% of Olympic places up for grabs – is now four months away.
Strong day for British ILCA 7 sailors
It was another strong day for Britain in the ILCA 7, who was last out of the water at 20:00.
Eliott Hanson, second in Hyères last year, retained the overall lead despite 18, 8 finishes in yellow fleet. Daniel Whiteley was 2, 12 in red fleet, but Michael Beckett fared better in the light, winning his first race and finishing 4th in the second in blue fleet to move into third place. He has been the most consistent sailor this week so far and has not been out of the top five.
It was a tougher day for the Australians, but Olympic champion, Matt Wearn, was 10, 4 in the yellow fleet and is still very much in the hunt. Just two points separate the top five, and only 12 across the top 10.
Results are here