In a testing breeze of between eight and 12 knots, Britain's Beijing 2008 Olympic bronze medal winner Bryony Shaw produced the most eye-catching performance, taking a 16-point lead in the Medal Race of the RS:X windsurfing class before crowning a flawless week with second place in the finale to secure gold..

Reigning world champion Charline Picon of France had to settle for second place while 2010 world champion Blanca Manchón of Spain took bronze.

"I am really pleased that I've had such a convincing win here," said a beaming Shaw afterwards.

"It's been a tough year in that I keep missing out on the podiums.

"I managed to win in Miami back in the beginning of the year.

"This being the end of the year it's nice to be back on top of the podium and I hope I can take that momentum into next year."

If Shaw's victory marked a breakthrough, Tom Burton's gold medal in the laser class continued a superb year that also included World Cup triumphs in Mallorca and Hyeres.

The Australian emerged on top ahead of Croatia's Tonci Stipanovic and France's Jean Baptiste Bernaz after taking an early lead in the Medal Race and never looking back thereafter.

Alex Maloney and Molly Meech hone in on 49erFX gold
©Pedro Martinez/Sailing Energy/ISAF




There was more Oceanic success in the new 49er FX class, where Alex Maloney and Molly Meech of New Zealand won gold after a fourth place finish in the Medal Race, to complete a week of excellent consistency in which they had only once finished outside the top four. 

In the Finn class, there was a rare break from the British domination seen in the class in recent years as Slovenia's Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008 minor medallist Vasilij Žbogar  reigned supreme.

Having laid down a marker on the opening day with a pair of race victories Žbogar came through in second in the deciding Medal Race to claim the title ahead of Ivan Kljakovic Gaspic of Croatia.

Caleb Paine of the United States took bronze, with Britain's reigning world champion Giles Scott not competing in the season ending event.

The closest competition of the morning, however, came in the women's 470 class, where Austrians Lara Vadlau and Jolanta Ogar took gold after winning a bitterly contested battle with British rivals Sophie Weguelin and Elidh McIntyre.
 
Lara Vadlau and Jolanta-Ogar celebrate women's 470 gold at the ISAF World Cup Final ©Pedro Martinez/Sailing Energy/ISAF





In the latter categories to be decided this afternoon, there was no surprise as world and European champions Mat Belcher and Will Ryan continued their utter domination of the 470 class by securing a comfortable gold.

London 2012 Olympic bronze medallist Evi Van Acker of Belgium triumphed in the laser radial category, taking the Medal Race win and ISAF Sailing World Cup Final glory, while Great Britain's Oliver Bridge was a dominant victor in the open kiteboarding category.

Contact the writer of this story at [email protected]


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