The French boat had finished top of the overall standings in Hyères after winning the final two races of the regatta by 40 seconds and 46 seconds to secure what they thought was a resounding victory.

But Robertson, Stodel and Thomas immediately lodged a protest claiming the helmsman on the French boat was seated outboard of the toe rail in both races, in violation of Sonar class rule C2.1 (c).

A five-person ISAF race jury reviewed the evidence and found in favour of the British and imposed a discretionary penalty of 20 per cent on the French in each race, dropping them down to the silver medal position.

The decision meant the British trio were declared winners of the first race of the day while Australia's Colin Harrison, John Harris and Russell Boaden took the win in the second race which secured them a bronze medal overall, ahead of Norway's Aleksander Wang-Hansen, Per Eugen Kristiansen and Marie Solberg.

"The French were believed to have broken some Sonar class rules - they were hiking with their 'derrieres' over the side of the boat, so unfortunately for them they got penalised 20 per cent in each of today's races which meant that we won the regatta," said Stodel afterwards.

"It's not the greatest way to win a regatta, but at the same time, class rules are class rules."

Former Paralympic champion Heiko Kroeger secured a dramatic win in the final ISAF World Cup of the season ©Getty Images



The climax to the 2.4mR competition was equally dramatic, but was decided on the water as Heiko Kroeger managed to edge ahead and claim the gold medal ahead of Frenchman Damien Seguin and Britain's Megan Pascoe.

Kroeger came into the final day just one point clear of his two rivals but it was Seguin who made the first move by taking the opening race just one second clear of the German, while Pascoe had to make do with a fourth place finish.

That left both sailors level on 15 points with Pascoe still in with a chance of taking gold on 17 points.

The final race was as close as the first but it was the German who found the decisive edge and crossed the line first just one second clear of the chasing Seguin to finally claim the gold medal.

"I'm really happy and really tired," said the Sydney 2000 champion, who led the standings all week in Hyères.

"It was a hard week and tough competition."

Pascoe claimed the bronze medal to add to her silver from Mallorca and gold in Miami.

Attention now turns to the High Liner Foods International Association for Disabled Sailing World Championships due to take place in Nova Scoatia, Canada, from August 15 to 24.

The competition serves as the first qualification regatta for Rio 2016.



Contact the writer of this story at [email protected]


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