The Dutch pairing began the day in a tight battle with Britain’s Sophie Weguelin and Eilidh McIntyre for first place in the standings, while two other crews still had an outside chance if they triumphed in the medal race.

It would quickly become a battle between the British and Dutch crews, with the latter leading the race in the early stages, only to be overtaken by their rivals.

Van Veen and Zegers would bide their time and eventually move back past Weguelin and McIntyre to claim the victory.

The pairing would end three points clear of the British crew in the final standings by finishing on 26 points, while the bronze medal was claimed by Spain’s Silvia Mas Depares and Paula Barcelo Martin as they ended on 39 points.

"I think we just did what we had to do," said Zegers.

"Jibe when we had the opportunity and sail the boat in a way would give bad air to the British.

"I don't think there was another opportunity."

There was home success in the men’s 470 class, with Stuart McNay and David Hughes defending their title from last year.

The Americans placed fifth in the medal race, but were crucially in front of Panagiotis Mantis and Pavlos Kagialis of Greece to secure the gold.

McNay and Hughes finished with 56 points, with the medal race winners Tetsuya Isozaki and Akira Takayanagi of Japan settling for second place, four points back.

Mantis and Kagialis ended in third place on a total of 68 points.

Greek gold came in the women’s laser radial event, with Vasileia Karachaliou topping the standings in front of Belgium’s Evi Van Acker.

The pair headed into the final race as the top two in the standings and they would conclude the event by ending first and second respectively in the medal race.

Karachaliou’s victory saw her end with 28 points, while Van Acker sealed the silver medal by finishing with 46.

Mathilde de Kerangat of France rounded off the podium spots, as she ended with a tally of 69 points.

With France’s Jean Baptiste Bernaz having already defended his laser title, the battle for silver garnered most of the attention in the event’s medal race.

Cyprus’ Pavlos Kontides ensured himself of the position after forcing Nick Thompson down the field, which ultimately saw the Britain slip down to fourth position overall.

He would be overtaken by his team-mate Lorenzo Chiavarini, who would end one point ahead.

The finn classification also concluded, with Brazil’s Jorge Zarif already confirmed as the victor before the final day.

Britain’s Ben Cornish and Anders Pedersen of Norway completed the podium positions.