WEYMOUTH'S Paul Goodison and Ben Ainslie claimed gold in the Finn and Laser classes on the final day of racing in Palma to bring the British medal tally to eight at this third leg of the ISAF Sailing World Cup series.

Goodison and Ainslie’s victories ensured a hat-trick of golds for Skandia Team GBR at this Princess Sofia Trophy, with Olympic and World Champions Iain Percy and Sherborne’s Andrew Simpson having already sealed the regatta title on Friday in the Star class with a day to spare.

Portland’s Giles Scott captured silver behind Ainslie in the Finn class.

There were bronze medals for Weymouth’s Nick Dempsey in the RS:X windsurfing event and Port-land’s Luke Patience and Stuart Bithell in the 470 men’s fleet to add to Megan Pascoe’s bronze from the 2.4mR Paralympic event on Friday.

The Finn class was the first to start in Palma Bay on Saturday morning, with the triple Olympic medallist Ainslie enjoying a 14-point cushion over compatriot Scott heading into the final race. Ainslie sailed a flawless final to lead the rest of the fleet over the finish line and secure victory by 20 points, with a fourth place in the medal race more than enough to ensure a silver for Scott and book a second British step on the Finn podium.

Olympic champion Goodison emer-ged on top from the fascinating Laser class showdown which saw him, world champion Tom Slingsby (Aus) and fellow Brit Nick Thompson all effectively level on points heading into the final day.

The finishing order between the three on the water would determine the order of the podium spots and Goodison took the initiative early on, rounding the first windward mark in first place.

He kept his medal rivals firmly behind him for the entire race, finishing third with Slingsby and Thomp-son in fifth and seventh in the 10-boat race.

Goodison said: “It was going to be whoever was going to cross the line first, so the only real option was to go and win the race.

“After getting round the top mark leading it was all a bit easier seeing the guys behind me and from then it was just about making sure I didn’t do anything silly and finishing it off.

“It was a little bit frustrating to get an over the line a little bit earlier in the week, which made it a lot harder but I’m pretty happy with how I’m sailing and to see me delivering under pressure. Fingers crossed for the rest of the season.”

Percy and Simpson, already guaranteed gold in the Star keelboat event, finished their regatta with a 37-point margin over the second-placed German boat of Robert Stanjek and Frithjof Kleen who won silver on countback over Brazil’s Torben Grael and Marcelo Ferreira.

Patience and Bithell improved their overnight position from fourth to claim bronze, and so nearly a silver, in the 470 men’s event. The incredibly tight medal race saw the British pair cross the finish line in third, almost level with the French pair Nicolas Charbonnier and Jeremie Mion with the result going in the French pair’s favour, meaning the Skandia Team GBR pair miss out on the silver medal spot by just one point.

Bithell explained: “The medal race was very close and it was a particular condition that made it even closer. “It came down to a very, very close finish to the extent where we put a quick protest in at the end.

“We thought we might have had the silver medal opportunity but that wasn’t to be.”

Helmsman Patience was over the moon with another podium finish for the pairing after a testing week.

He said: “We’re very pleased to have come away with another medal. That’s our fifth regatta in a row that we’ve come away with a medal so we’re so happy with that, it’s a different place to where we were a year ago.

“It was a difficult regatta. It was high scoring as Princess Sofia often is and at the end of the day what matters is the finishing place when you cross the finish line at the end of the last race – we’re happy to say that was in a medal position for us.”

Meanwhile, Dempsey secured a fourth bronze for Skandia Team GBR in the RS:X men’s windsurfing event, but was disappointed with his medal race performance. He finished 10th in the race to slip from his silver medal position overnight, while Penny Clark and Katrina Hughes were unable to improve on their fourth place heading into the 470 women’s final, having to re-cross the startline after a premature start.