The pair began the day adrift of their rivals in the overall standings but moved ahead of them in the final race of the regatta and crossed the line two places clear in sixth.

Brazil’s Fernanda Oliveira and Ana Luiza Barbachan had threatened to leapfrog the two leading pairs into first place after starting quickly in the medal race before fading to fourth position.

It meant they narrowly miss out on the gold medal as the pair ended one point behind Mills and Clark’s total of 41 points.

Croatia's Sime Fantela and Igor Marenic had already assured themselves back-to-back men’s titles in Hyères ahead of the medals race, with the duo eventually finishing the event 15 points clear of Australia’s Mat Belcher and Will Ryan.

Belgium's Evi Van Acker secured a third consecutive laser radial victory in Hyères, finishing two places clear of her closest rival Josefin Olsson of Sweden in the medal race.

In the men’s laser class, Germany’s Philipp Buhl finished fourth on the final day of the regatta to end three points ahead of Sam Meech, who boosted his claim to represent New Zealand at Rio 2016.

It proved enough, however, to clinch the overall title by three points.

His compatriot Oli Tweddell was forced to settle for second in the standings, with the result potentially seeing Lilley gain the initiative in their head-to-head battle to claim the sole spot in the Australian team for the Olympic Games.

Spain’s Fernando Echavarri and Tara Pacheco triumphed in the Nacra 17 event after winning the medal race convincingly, while Italy's Vittorio Bissaro and Silvia Sicouri finished on the same final points total to end as the runners-up.

Lisa Ericson and Hanna Klinga of Sweden ended two points clear of Brazil’s Martine Grael and Kahena Kunze to ensure they led the women’s 49erFX event from start to finish.

New Zealand’s Peter Burling and Blair Tuke had already sealed the men’s 49er title prior to the final day of the regatta.

Polish sailors celebrated gold medals in both the men’s and women’s RS:X events, with Zofia Noceti-Klepacka winning the latter due to finishing in fourth place in the medal race, to end eight clear of Britain’s Bryony Shaw.

Piotr Myszka won the men’s title after ending three clear of his team-mate Pawel Tarnowski, after weather conditions forced their final race to be cancelled.