Olympic silver medalist Luke Patience and new crew Joe Glanfield failed in their unlikely medal bid at sailing's 470 World Championships in La Rochelle.
The duo were facing a tough task in the medal race and despite finishing second, settled for fifth place overall - the same position occupied by team-mates Sophie Weguelin and Eilidh McIntyre in the women's fleet.
“We finished on a high – our medal race was great,” said Patience, who won his silver at London 2012 with Stuart Bithell.
“We were on fire and the boat was flying, everything felt gorgeous and we raced well. That’s something to take away and we can use those sorts of skills in the next regatta.
“Right now it’s a bit of an anti-climax but as ever with these things, give it a few days and it will be a bit more philosophical for us.
"We’ve had a great season and we have sailed really well this week, it was just a couple of errors yesterday that made the difference. It is frustrating but that is sport."
Glanfield, himself a double Olympic silver medallist in 2004 and 2008, insists the partnership could not have enjoyed a better first season.
“Every event we’ve done we’ve gone into the medal race in contention for a medal, and at the majority events we’ve come away from a medal and that’s in a multitude of conditions," he said.
“That’s more than I think either of us expected this year – certainly more than I expected to have that consistency at every event.”
Weguelin, 24, and 19-year-old McIntyre placed fourth in the medal race to consolidate their overall fifth place, but with four podium finishes this season they also have no complaints.
“We’ve had a tough week of racing and we’re very happy to finish fifth given that we’ve only been sailing together for eight months now. It’s been really positive,” said Weguelin.
However, British team officials are happy with their recent results.
From five of the ten Olympic classes World Championships held this season, British sailors have picked up three medals, with Nick Dempsey taking the windsurfing world title, his female counterpart Bryony Shaw taking silver and Nacra 17 multihull pairing Ben Saxton and Hannah Diamond winning world silver last month in Holland.
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