Olympic bronze medallist Bryony Shaw kickstarted a Great Britain medal rush at the Sailing World Cup in Hyeres as she claimed windsurfing gold.
On the final day in France, Great Britain took their medal tally to ten, with Finn sailor Andrew Mills and 49er pairing Dylan Fletcher and Alain Sign joining Shaw in climbing the top step of the podium.
And it was Shaw, who finished third at the 2008 Beijing Games before ending London 2012 four places further back, that started the rout.
The day before she turned 30 Shaw gave herself an early birthday present, finishing second in the first of her two medal races, before closing out the gold in style with a win in the final race.
“I’m really happy,” said Shaw. “I didn’t have the best of days on Friday on the last day of finals series, so was pretty fired up coming in to this.
“Two of my main rivals were over the line in the first race, so that was a big opportunity for me.
“I sailed really well, got good starts, and made some good decisions so it’s great that it all came together today when it mattered.
“I’ve had a great start to the year with silver at the World Championships and silver in Palma. I really wanted to keep that momentum going this week and come away with gold, so I’m really happy, and especially to have performed well across the range of conditions this week.”
Elsewhere, Mills got the better of overnight leader and Palma World Cup winner Giles Scott to claim his first ever World Cup victory, his fellow Brit having to settle for silver.
Fellow British sailors Ed Wright and Mark Andrews were also in Finn medal race action, and ended their regattas in seventh and ninth respectively.
And Fletcher and Sign picked up their first World Cup win as well in the 49er class, pushing compatriots Dave Evans and Ed Powys down into second, with Stevie Morrison and Ben Rhodes almost completing a full British podium in fourth.
Fletcher’s partner Charlotte Dobson was not to be outdone in the medal stakes and claimed her first podium finish, along with crew Mary Rook, in the new 49erFX class – a first British medal in the new women’s skiff for Rio.
Dobson and Rook went into the day in the silver medal position, and scores of 3,5 and 4 from the day was enough to keep them there, while Penny Clark and Sophie Ainsworth ended their regatta in seventh.
Alison Young made it two World Cup podium spots in a row, adding Laser Radial bronze to her gold in Palma, while Sophie Weguelin and Eilidh McIntyre also made it two World Cup medals from their debut regattas as a team claiming a hard-fought bronze in the 470 Women’s event after starting the day in fourth overall.
Ben Saxton and Hannah Diamond missed out on a first British medal in the new Nacra 17 class by the narrowest of margins – they finished fourth, just two points from the bronze medal, while teammates Lucy Macgregor and Tom Phipps ended their regatta in tenth.
Luke Patience and Joe Glanfield were unable to improve their standing in the 470 Men’s event. Called over the line early in the first medal race of the day, they finished tenth in the second to end their second regatta together in ninth overall, while Nick Thompson was also ninth in the Laser class.
© Sportsbeat 2013