British sailing star Ben Ainslie has been ruled out of medal contention after he had a row with a media boat in Australia.
The three-time Olympic gold medallist felt that the wash created from the boat affected his race and he left his craft to remonstrate with the crew on board.
He was then disqualified by officials from two of the races in Perth.
"On the final downwind leg of the race, I was hindered by a media boat, the actions of which I felt were seriously impeding my progress in the race," the 34-year-old said in a statement after his disqualification.
"Clearly with it being a World Championship, emotions are running high and in the heat of the moment after the race I boarded the media boat to make my views known to the crew.
"I realise this was an inappropriate course of action and have already apologised to those concerned."
Ainslie had held the overall lead by eight points before the altercation.
Pascal Lemesre
