THE final day of the IFDS Disabled Sailing World Championships saw more medal success for Britain’s sailors.

The Sonar trio of John Robertson, Hannah Stodel and Steve Thomas claimed silver, and Helena Lucas took bronze in the 2.4mR event to add to the gold already secured by Portland Skud duo Alexandra Rickham and Niki Birrell on Thursday.

Strong winds with gusts in excess of 25 knots at the Weymouth & Portland Saiing Academy meant that yesterday’s final race in each of the three Paralympic classes was unable to get underway, with the medals in the 2.4mR and Skud events decided on the standings at the end of Thursday’s racing.

Rickham and Birrell could not lose the championship title heading into the final day, regardless of whether they raced, whereas Lucas must have secretly breathed a sigh of relief when the abandonment flags were raised.

With the Dutch duo of Thierry Schmitter and Andre Rademaker fighting it out for gold and silver, Lucas was poised tentatively in the bronze medal position heading into the final day, with the points margins so close that five other boats – including Megan Pascoe – had the chance to snatch bronze at the final opportunity yesterday.

But with that opportunity denied due to the windy conditions, a relieved Lucas took World Championship bronze to add to her Disabled Worlds medals from 2006 and 2009.

The situation in the three-person Sonar class was less cut and dried – the Israeli team of Dror Cohen, Benni Vexler and Arnon Efrati had their premature start penalty from race 10 on Thursday overturned by the race committee late on Thursday evening, handing them back the overall lead by four points over the British two-time world champions Robertson, Stodel and Thomas heading into the final day.

It was a decision which the British team contested, arguing that the evidence the Israelis put forward in support of their claim was obtained via an illegal camera on board their boat and was therefore inadmissible. The jury agreed that a class rule had been broken by the visiting team, but elected not to impose a penalty for the transgression – and with no racing yesterday to try and better their score, the Skandia Team GBR crew were forced to settle for Worlds silver for the second year in a row, and will have to wait for their world title hat-trick.

At the 2010 World Championships, the British Sonar team also missed out on gold through a last-minute protest involving two other boats which impacted on their score.