Olympic sailing champion Mat Belcher is only one step away from winning his fifth successive World Championship in the 470 class and, if he succeeds, it will be his second title in partnership with Will Ryan.
The Australians looked strong on their last day of fleet racing and move into Saturday's double-point top-ten medal race ranked first.
The duo posted two race wins and one second at Santander in Spain on Friday to take a 14.7-point lead over the Croatian crew of Sime Fantela and Igor Marenic.
"We probably had the most stable conditions we had the whole week," Belcher said.
"The day gave us a lot of confidence to know that we can get the result when we need to."
Their results have already qualified Australia for the Men's 470 class at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.
Australia has also secured a Rio 2016 spot in the 49er Men's Skiff after Olympic Gold medallists Nathan Outteridge and Iain Jensen moved into second on their penultimate day of fleet racing.
David Gilmour and Rhys Mara are ranked tenth giving the Australian team a chance to get two crews to qualify for the medal race on Sunday.
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