It was a delighted Nick Dempsey that crossed the finish line on the Nothe course to secure a silver Olympic medal for GBR, and banish the ghosts of Beijing - where he finished fourth.

Nick Dempsey

Nick Dempsey is the silver surfer! Photo Onedition



Unable to contain his delight, Dempsey swam ashore to greet his young son, who asked: "Have you finished work now daddy?" Dempsey then returned to the Olympic Sailing Centre, where he stood on top of his board as he was carried from the water by his team mates - including Olympic Manager Stephen Park and Ben Ainslie's coach Sid Howlett.

Gold in this event was out of reach for the Briton, due to an outstanding display by The Netherlands' Dorian Van Rijsselberge, who had already secured gold. Dempsey needed to finish sixth or better to secure Silver, in the event, he never looked like falling outside of the top five, and ended the medal race in third.

“I’m just glad I could do it for all the people who have helped me,” said Dempsey. “Without doubt, to have all my family and friends here to do in front of the crowd couldn’t be better. It’s been a tough four years but I always knew I could come here and do well.”

Unfortunately for women’s RS-X sailor Bryony Shaw there was no repeat of the medal she won in Beijing 2008 as she ended the regatta in seventh place.

More Sailing medals to come
The men’s 470 duo of Luke Patience and Stuart Bithell have guaranteed silver heading into the final double-points medal race and sit four points behind the Australian leaders. That means they could still win gold. The two leading boats have a massive jump on the rest of the fleet, but although the Nothe medal course is notoriously shifty, all the Aussie duo need to do is finish ahead of the Brits - while the Brits need to finish two places ahead of the Aussies to win gold.

Meanwhile, in the women’s 470, Saskia Clark and Hannah Mills are also closing in on a medal, lying second, four points behind their New Zealand rivals. With two races left before the medal race, the duo will be hoping they can overturn the deficit and deliver another gold.

Written by: Gael Pawson
Gael Pawson is the editor of Yachts & Yachting Magazine and the founder of Creating Waves. A keen racer, she has sailed all her life, and started writing about the subject whilst studying journalism at university. Dinghies and small keelboats are her first loves, but she has cruised and raced a huge variety of boats in locations across the world.