BEIJING, Aug. 21 (UPI) -- Iain Percy and Andrew Simpson gave Britain its fourth Olympic sailing gold medal Thursday by winning the Star class.
The British led the way in the 11 classes contested in this year's Olympic sailing regatta. Australia was the only other nation with multiple golds, having claimed two.
Percy and Simpson finished fifth in the medal race but they had such a large lead going into Thursday's event that they easily held onto the top spot in the overall standings. They finished with 43 points and teams from Brazil and Sweden had 53.
The Brazilian team of Robert Scheidt and Bruno Prada received the silver medal because they had a better finish in the medal race than did the Swedish team.
Thursday's races were held in blustery weather.
"It was really difficult British conditions today," said Percy. "Everything was changing. Boat places were switched rapidly and we went from left to right. We just had to keep our eyes on the main guys and just fight, fight, fight."
The Tornado class was won by Spain's Fernando Echavarri and Anton Paz. They finished fourth in the medal race and wound up 5 points in front of Australia's Darren Bundock and Glenn Ashby.
Argentines Santiago Lange and Carlos Espinola were third.
