Annalise Murphy’s final race in the laser radial class off Flamengo Beach was postponed on Monday due to lack of wind earlier in the day and then finally cancelled because of too much wind, when the fleet went out in late afternoon.

The Dun Laoghaire sailor, who is currently third and in the bronze medal position, sat around for most of the day waiting for the racing conditions to improve.

The waiting game almost came to an end at 4.00pm Rio time when the boats were finally launched from the beach and hauled out to the racing start line.

But it was all based on hope as the North wind and sea breeze off the Rio coast just didn’t generate the voltage to stage the race. Temperatures in the high 20s along with blazing sunshine at least kept the hundreds of spectators on the beach satisfied.

When it was finally announced that the race may start the winds dramatically picked up and as motor boats plucked struggling 49er boats from another fleet to toe them ashore, it all seemed like a sad lament for the day’s racing.

“It’s something we’re used to as sailors. It’s just normal for us. I think, everyone’s used to just waiting around,” said Murphy afterwards. “Probably the spectators aren’t so used to waiting around all day.”

She added that she would have been just fine to race in the tough conditions.

“Oh yeah definitely,” she said. “We all would have been fine out there but it is very windy, so it is probably the right decision by the race committee.

“We have to do this all the time in sailing. I’ll just go home and relax, come back tomorrow and activate exactly the same plan as today.”

Ireland's Saskia Tidey and Andrea Brewster capsized their 49er boat returning to land in the choppy water.

The single final race will now take place today and counts for double points. Only the 10 best sailors in Murphy’s original field of 36 will be on the start-line.

While the points won over the last 10 races count in the final only the top five boats are in the running for a medal.

At London 2012 the scenario was similar except that four boats including Murphy could reach the podium.

The Netherlands' Marit Boumeester holds a points- advantage over Murphy. That means the Dubliner would need to beat her by five places and stay ahead of Belgium's Evi Van Acker, the sailor who was ill earlier in the week when she swallowed water and Denmark's Anne-Marie Rindom. A silver or bronze medal placing is the most likely finish placing for Murphy.