PARALYMPIC sailors Alex Rickham and Niki Birrell, of Portland, secured the Skud European title with a clean sweep of race wins.

The London 2012 sailing bronze medallists took the championship crown in Arbon, Switzerland.

It marked the duo’s first big event of the year and they were delighted to win all six races against the 10 other competing teams on Lake Constance and pick up their first European title.

Rickham, 31, said: “It’s our first time competing at this event so we’re obviously really pleased to walk away as winners and excited to kick off the new cycle with a title, it’s always nice to be able to call yourself European champions.”

The four-time world champions will next be competing at the Sail for Gold Regatta at the Weymouth & Portland National Sailing Academy in June followed by the Skud World Championships in August – where they will be seeking to achieve a fifth World title.

Meanwhile, the Garda Trentino Olympic Week drew to a close with gold for Bournemouth Finn sailor Ed Wright, and silver for windsurfer Bryony Shaw.

The regatta on Lake Garda, Italy, marked the first event of the new EUROSAF Champions Sailing Cup five-part series.

Weymouth’s world champion windsurfer Nick Dempsey withdrew from the competition following the tragic death of his friend and British team-mate Andrew Simpson in San Francisco.

Wright, 35, was the sole British gold medallist among the 15-sailor British entry.

Shaw, meanwhile, continued her medal-winning form, claiming a fourth straight podium finish of the year in the women’s RS:X fleet.