THERE were triple celebrations for British Finn sailors who closed out three podium results at the European Championships in Marseille on Saturday.

Bournemouth’s Ed Wright secured silver with bronze going to Ben Cornish, while young talent Henry Wetherell took the under-23 European crown as well as sixth place overall at his first Europeans in the men’s Olympic heavyweight class.

Gold went to the hosts’ Jonathan Lobert, who led Wright and Cornish across the finish line in the five-boat ‘winner-takes-all’ trial finals format used for this regatta.

While Wright is no stranger to the Finn European or World Championship podium, Cornish’s bronze was his first medal at a Europeans.

The Finn fleet had been experimenting with a new race format which gave rise to a tense final day, which started with a 10th opening series race after which the top three in the standings would automatically progress to a five-boat, winner-takes-all final.

The sailors ranked fourth to 10th after the opening series then had to fight it out for the two remaining spots, and three British boats were firmly in that battle.

Wright ended the opening series in fourth, Cornish in ninth and Wetherell in 10th, but the points table was wiped clean for the semi-final showdown and whichever two sailors crossed the finish line first would earn the remaining finals berths.

The British Sailing Team led that semi-final battle from the front, with Cornish taking the gun, followed by Wright and with young gun Wetherell just missing out.

At the RS:X Windsurfing European Championships, also held in Marseille, the British Sailing Team’s Tom Squires and Weymouth’s Izzy Hamilton were happy with their performances, with Squires fifth and Hamilton as seventh European (10th overall).

Meanwhile in Monaco, a windless final day at the 470 European Championships put paid to Amy Seabright and Anna Carpenter’s hopes of breaking into the medal positions.

The duo was poised in fourth place going into the final 10-boat race but racing proved impossible and they were denied the opportunity of an upgrade.