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 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 sailing class.
That prompted concern about Ainslie's prospects for London 2012 despite him having won the World Championships just two weeks before.
The five-time Finn world champion was speaking as he showed the Prince of Wales around Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy where he is currently training.
Ainslie praised the team around him, who he said are keeping him on the water.
"My body in general is slowly letting me down as I'm getting older, but that is something that you have to deal with with getting older," he said.
"I guess I have more experience than the guys I'm racing against, but they don't have to deal with some of the issues I do physically.
"We have a great physiological team, so they've been a huge help in trying to get my fitness levels up and keeping me in one piece and getting me out on the water, so I'm confident we can do that."
Ainslie said his build-up towards the Olympics remains on course with just over a month to go, adding: "It's really getting exciting. As you can see there are so many international teams here training and preparing for the Olympics as they have been for a long time now.
"But you can really feel the excitement and the tension building up and it's not long to go now, so these days are pretty critical and everyone is trying, as if cramming for an exam, getting as much time on the water to be as best prepared as possible."