Scott claims gold in commanding fashion on final day of ISAF World Cup

Britain's Giles Scott powered to an impressive Finn medal race victory to take gold in Hyères ©ISAF

Great Britain’s Giles Scott sealed his maiden International Sailing Federation (ISAF) World Cup Hyères gold medal as he stormed to victory in the Finn medal race on the final day in France.

Scott had gold all but wrapped up but he showed no signs of complacency as he powered to a superb win to finish on a total of 38 points, and Vasilij Zbogar of Slovenia did enough to take silver ahead of another Briton, Ed Wright, who had to settle for bronze.

It also proved to be an excellent day for Lillian De Geus of the Netherlands, who sealed her spot at the ISAF World Cup final in Abu Dhabi by taking gold in the women’s RS:X class in style.

The Dutchwoman knew she was well-placed to top the podium going into the final day’s competition and she rounded off an excellent week by clinching victory in the medal race.

The result saw De Geus end the event 11 points clear of nearest rival and home favourite Charline Picon, while Brazil’s Patricia Freitas sealed bronze.

The home crowd did have some success to cheer in the men's RS:X class thanks to Pierre Le Coq, who began the day knowing he would take home a medal but he ensured the colour was gold as he came home in seventh in the medal race, giving him a final total of 74 points.

Poland's Piotr Myszka took silver, seven points adrift of Le Coq, and Byron Kokkalanis of Greece won bronze.

Frenchman Pierre Le Coq took gold in the men's RSX to the delight of the home crowd ©ISAF

Belgium’s Evi Van Acker reigned supreme in the laser radial class as she clinched a medal race success which gave her the overall gold medal, comfortably beating Lithuania’s Gintare Scheidt by 23 points.

Sweden's Josefin Olsson managed to hang on to bronze, despite a strong challenge from Denmark’s Anne-Marie Rindom.

Elsewhere, Australian Tom Burton shrugged off the exploits of Croatia’s Tonci Stipanovic to seal gold in the laser category following an overnight protest which saw Stipanovic relegated to 41st place for pushing Burton off the proper course in the final fleet race.

The Australian was given 21 points after a redress but could not quite round off the week in style as he finished second in the medal race behind American Charlie Buckingham.

Nick Thompson maintained a fruitful day for Great Britain as he claimed silver, eight points shy of the winning total and Brazil's Robert Scheidt did enough to win bronze.

Denmark were the dominant nation in the 49er FX class as Ida Marie Baad Nielsen and Marie Thusgaard Olsen pipped the Brazilian duo of Martine Grael and Kahena Kunze to gold by virtue of their second place finish in the medal race.

The Brazilians had been the overnight leaders by a solitary point but the Danes managed to top the podium in dramatic fashion on 87 points, while Giulia Conti and Francesca Clapcich of Italy took bronze.

French duo Billy Besson and Marie Riou had already claimed gold the previous day and they rounded off their week in style by winning the Nacra 17 medal race ©ISAF

Fernanda Oliveira and Ana Luiza Barbachan ensured there was a Brazilian triumph on the final day as they finished second in the medal race, which was enough to earn gold in the women’s 470 with a total of 45 points.

Oliveira and Barbachan came out on top in what was a competitive category to oust New Zealand’s Jo Aleh and Polly Powrie, who had to settle for silver, and home favourites Camille Lecointre and Helene Defrance claimed bronze.

The next ISAF World Cup event is due to take place in Weymouth and Portland, which hosted sailing during the London 2012 Olympics, from June 8 to 14.