RHU sailor Luke Patience was delighted with a fifth-placed finish at the 470 World Championships in Argentina after recovering from an early week slip down the standings.

Patience and sailing partner Chris Grube were 14th after the first day of the competition.

Conditions were difficult over the week and the pair found themselves 18th after the second day and back up to 14th by close of play on the third. However a late surge qualified them for the medal race on the final day in 8th spot and that good form continued as they rose to 5th overall.

Olympic silver medalist Patience was pleased at the spirit the pair showed to fight back and insists it is an encouraging result given the short time he has been sailing with Grube.

He said: “The racing was a great example of how this sport is never over until it’s over.

“We were down the standings early on in the week but kept on fighting. I think we had the same amount of fight in us on day six that we had on day one which was great to see.

“I’m encouraged by what Chris and I have been able to do in a short space of time. We came away fifth in the world after only 25 days sailing together and performed well in some tough conditions.”

Difficult wind conditions in San Isidro, as well as weed throughout the racecourse proved a challenge for all the competitors, but Patience believes it was perfect preparation for Rio 2016 which might bring similar difficulties for the British sailors.

He added: “It was a unique week, with more of Mother Nature’s elements to deal with than even we are used to with some tricky wind conditions and a huge amount of this strange weed on the racecourse.

“That said, it was good practice in a way for Rio where you can get weed, plastics bags and other such debris caught on your boat.”