Britain hold off home challenge to win sonar gold at Para World Sailing Championships

Britain's sonar team held off the hosts in the medal race to earn gold ©ISAF

Britain’s John Robertson, Hannah Stodel and Steve Thomas held off the home challenge on the final day of the Para World Sailing Championships to claim gold in the sonar class in Melbourne.

The British crew headed into the medal race holding a three-point advantage over the Australian team of Colin Harrison, Russell Boaden and Jonathan Harris in a head-to-head battle for victory.

Their advantage looked under threat, however, in the early stages of the race with the home favourites leading the field but they were unable to shake off their rivals for the title as they remained in touch throughout to maintain their narrow advantage.

Israel’s Dror Cohen, Arnon Elfrati and Shimon Ben Yakov earned the final race win, while the British crew were able to celebrate sealing the world title with a total of 36 points for the regatta, with Australia ending a point adrift.

Australian had lodged a protest following the completion of the event, regarding an incident in race four where they suffered damage following a collision with Israel, but their appeal was rejected.

“We’ve missed out a few times over the last few years, this year’s been a lot of hard work to try and make big gains,” said Robertson.

“Our goal this year was to win the Worlds so to have it there for real is just superb.”

The British and Australian crews were joined on the podium by Norway, who sealed bronze, while Ireland, Israel, Italy, New Zealand, Spain and the United States earned Rio 2016 quota places.

France's Damien Seguin claimed gold in the 2.4mR class ©ISAF

Damien Seguin had proved to be one of the sailors of the week, producing a series of excellent performances in difficult conditions to build a 10-point lead ahead 2.4mR medal race.

The Frenchman kept close to his nearest challenger Heiko Kroeger throughout the event to secure gold by finishing seven points clear of the German sailor.

Australia’s Matt Bugg did enough to secure bronze ahead of Britain’s Helena Lucas, despite struggling in the final race, finishing ninth

A total of seven countries earned Paralympic quota places for the class, with Austria, Argentina, Czech Republic, Italy, New Zealand, Sweden and Spain joining nations who had already booked their spots at Rio 2016.

Having defended their SKUD18 title with a day to spare, Australia’s Dan Fitzgibbon and Liesl Tesch ensured the regatta ended in style for the hosts as they secured victory in the medal race to extend their margin of victory to 18 points.

Britain’s Alexandra Rickham and Niki Birrell clinched silver finishing on 30 points, while Italy’s Marco Gualandris and Marta Zanetti completed the podium positions on 45.

The Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland, Singapore and Spain earned Rio 2016 spots as a result of their performances throughout the week.