RHU sailor Anna Burnet missed out on a medal by a narrow margin in the Nacra 17 class at the World Championships in New Zealand.

Burnet and her sailing partner John Gimson topped the standings after the second day’s racing in Auckland, ahead of fellow Britons Ben Saxton and Nikki Boniface, day one having fallen victim to the weather.

And the pair remained on top after the qualification races concluded on the third day of the regatta, following a tricky day of racing with light winds.

But a strong showing on day four by the Italian pair of Vittorio Bissaro and Maelle Frascari dropped Burnet and Gimson to a share of second place, and by day five they had fallen to fourth, just off the podium – a position they were unable to claw back on the final day of the event on Sunday.

READ MORE: Helensburgh sailing trio named in Team GB squad for 2020 Olympics

Burnet said afterwards: “I fell out of the boat on the final run in the first race today, and I think in hindsight those points lost in that have cost us a medal, so that’s a bit of a bitter pill to swallow.

“But I guess these things happen and at least we’re able to pull ourselves together and stay really strong as a team.

“At the beginning of the week we sailed really well – we were just free and able to race, able to pick our strategy and just go with it. The latter part of the week was a ‘British battle’, and that certainly put a bit more pressure on.

“Certainly there’s things like our starting that we need to work on – if we’re given the time to be able to work on them, I think we can be really strong.”

READ MORE: RNCYC quartet set their sights on Tokyo 2020 vision

Bissaro and Frascari went on to win the Nacra 17 title, with Lin Cenholt and Christian Peter Lubeck of Denmark taking silver and the Australian pair of Jason Waterhouse and Lisa Darmanin edging out Burnet and Gimson for the bronze.

Gimson added: “We’re reasonably happy with fourth but a bit disappointed not to medal.

“The next worlds is in Geelong in two months and we will be looking for a medal there as redemption for this week.”

Meanwhile, the other local sailor taking part in last week’s Worlds, Charlotte Dobson, partnered Saskia Tidey to a seventh place finish overall in the 49erFX class after a strong final day which saw the pair clinch a win in the medal race.

READ MORE: Check out all the latest Helensburgh and Lomond sports news here