WEYMOUTH sailors Chris Draper and Simon Hiscocks have stormed to their first world title.

The pair took gold in the 49er class at the world sailing championships in Cadiz, Spain after dominating the 12 race series from start to finish.

It completed a one-two for Britain, with fellow team mates and Olympic selection rivals Paul Brotherton and Mark Asquith coming second.

The result underlined Britain's dominance in the class but posed team bosses with a tricky selection headache.

Officials from the Royal Yachting Association and the British Olympic Association will meet today to decide which crew travels to Athens next year.

Both boats have put in world beating performances this season - with Brotherton and Asquith winning silver at the pre-Olympic regatta in August.

But the win at the world championships is arguably more prestigious, as the racing fleet is five times bigger than that at the Olympics.

Draper and Hiscocks' consistency in the notoriously difficult event stunned even themselves.

They managed two first and seven second places, leaving them head and shoulders above the rest of the fleet and in first place with a race to spare.

Helmsman Draper, 25, who lives in Castletown, Portland, said: "We felt we could win but never dreamed we would win it like this."

Simon, 31, from Newstead Road already has a silver medal from the Sydney Olympics in the 49er, and has sailed with Chris for the past three years.

Elsewhere in the British team, Ben Ainslie won his second world title in the Finn

class, with best friend and fellow Briton Andrew Simpson narrowly missing out on silver.

It is the former Weymouth-based sailor's sixth world title in all, and ensures Britain tops the medal table at its third major world event in a row.