Hannah Mills and Eilidh McIntyre were thrilled to take the World Cup Series final down to the wire despite losing out on a gold medal to French rivals Camille Lecointre and Aloise Retornaz.
Reigning Olympic champion Mills, 31, and crew McIntyre, 25, took silver despite leading the women’s 470 fleet for the entirety of the week-long regatta in Marseille.
They headed into Sunday’s final medal race with one point clear of the French duo, but with light winds plaguing the waters off Marseille conditions became difficult and the Brits were narrowly beaten to top spot.
Mills and McIntyre have enjoyed a run of success on the Mediterranean waters of Marseille and despite not adding to their 2017 and 2018 World Cup Series golds in the 470 class, the duo were satisfied with their performance.
“We were really excited for this medal race – it’s not often you get a full-on match race with another boat, so we were desperate to get the race in and the practice,” said Mills.
“We made a few mistakes around the start but then from that moment on we raced hard and took the fight to the French girls.
They sailed a great race and even though at the final mark we couldn’t quite do enough to get past them, it really did come down to the wire and we are proud of that.”
Mills and McIntyre’s success follows on from two British silver medals won on Saturday by windsurfer Saskia Sills and Nacra 17 pair John Gimson and Anna Burnet.
For Sills, who was impressive throughout the week-long regatta held at the Paris 2024 sailing venue, the silver was her first ever senior medal.
“It still hasn’t quite sunk in,” said the 22-year-old.
“I’m so happy. This whole year I’ve been looking up at the results sheets at all the girls at the top, wishing I could be as good as them for just one race. To get a silver medal when they’re all in the fleet feels amazing.”
Sills’ compatriots - Beijing 2008 bronze medallist Bryony Shaw and 2019 European silver medallist Emma Wilson – finished the regatta in seventh and ninth respectively.
“Bryony and Emma are such incredible athletes and I’ve felt for a long time that I’m incredibly privileged to be able to train with them, but now it’s like I’ve earned my place alongside them,” she added.
“When all three of us finish in the top ten we know we’re in a good place.”
And to round off a glorious weekend for Britain’s sailors, the Nacra 17 mixed class team of Gimson and Burnet followed up their European silver in May with the same result in Marseille.
Sportsbeat 2019