THERE was cause for celebration as British sailors secured five podium finishes on the first day of World Cup medal race action in Santander, Spain.

The bay of Santander played host to a speculator finale, with bright sunshine and light winds providing the ideal viewing platform as crowds gathered to watch the battles ensue.

Weymouth-based Charlotte Dobson and Saskia Tidey held on tightly to the silver spot going into the 49er FX finale to secure their second medal as a pairing.

The duo, who won their maiden medal at the Sailing World Cup Hyeres, were thrilled: “It’s been an absolutely great week of sailing for us, it’s a process regatta, we’re to work our starting and those goals have been really good with really big improvements there”

“It’s lovely, despite it being a process regatta, to come away with a silver medal having sailed really well with plenty of headroom still to go so we’re really, really happy,” continued Dobson.

Tidey described her event highlights: “I’ve enjoyed working through problems together and through the good times as well, and figuring out what sort of campaign we want to put together going forward. We’ll keep working on our process goals and looking forward to the next regatta to improve again.”

Racing went down to the wire in the Nacra fleet for the silver and bronze medals as four boats battled it out for two podium spots after Spanish pair Fernando Echavarri Erasun and Tara Pacheco Van Rijnsoever had all but secured the gold on the penultimate day of racing.

A third place finish for John Gimson and Anna Burnet in a nail-biting finale was enough to hold on to the silver medal after a week of close racing.

Ben Saxton and Katie Dabson delivered a light-wind masterclass to grab the final bullet and with it steal the bronze medal in an unexpected turn of events, as places changed throughout the fleet in a snakes and ladders race.

After a challenging medal race, Tom Phipps and Nikki Boniface had to settle for fifth overall, ahead of Chris Rashley and Laura Marimon Giovannetti in sixth. Rupert White and Kirstie Urwin wrapped up their event 10th.

With four boats in the mix for golden glory, overnight leaders James Peters and Fynn Sterritt knew it was everything to play for if they were to cement their place at the top of the 49er scoreboard. The British pairing, who have been on fire all week, finished second, enough to secure the top spot with seven-points to spare.

The pair had a clear plan going into the deciding race as Sterritt explained: “To make smart decision, not do anything too extreme, and it paid off”.

Peters described their event: “We just sailed really consistently all week, we didn’t actually win any races but we just went out there and put ourselves in the mix in every race.

“Ultimately over 14 races that’s what it took to win so we’re really, really happy with how we’ve sailed.”

“It’s been a great week for us, starting well, good boat speed, made smart decisions. It meant that every race, apart from one, we were in there and in a good position,” summed up Peters.

Team-mates Dylan Fletcher and Portland-based Stuart Bithell also defended their position to take the bronze, making it a third consecutive World Cup medal in the pair’s first season together. Fellow Brits Jack Hawkins and Chris Thomas end their week seventh, their best major event result so far in the 49er.

Despite crossing the line second in the medal race, Kate Macgregor and Weymouth-based Sophie Ainsworth missed out on the podium after finishing fourth.

It wasn’t to be for the British windsurfers as a tough medal race for Tom Squires sees him finish the week sixth overall. Meanwhile, in the women’s RS:X Emma Wilson and Weymouth’s Izzy Hamilton finished eighth and ninth respectively.