OLYMPIC dinghy racing hopefuls Paul Brotherton and Thorpe Bay YC member Mark Asquith finished a respectable 10th overall in the 49er class dinghy world championships in the Bahamas.

Five UK teams — all ranked in the top 20 in the world — qualified for the final medal race, which featured the best 10 pairings from 16 previous races.

But all the Brits struggled to cope with the shifty 20 knot winds with Dylan Fletcher and Alain Sign, who before the event were considered only outside chances for the sole 49er spot at the London Olympics in 2012, emerging as the best performing Britons.

Manager for the British Olympic sailing team Stephen Park was in Freeport to observe performances ahead of the process to decide how many pairs warrant further funding to maximise Britain’s medal chances at the 2012 Olympics.

“It was very tricky but in the end, disappointing. We expected to medal,” said Park, who has to decide which three, or possibly four crews continue to receive RYA Olympic funding after March this year.

“There is some work to do but having five in the top 10 gives us plenty to work with.

“We are not worried about whether they are capable of winning because they have shown in the past they are but it leaves us with an interesting discussion.

“There are reasons for funding an increased numbers of sailors knowing that it will mean high quality training and domestic competition at home.

“But equally you could argue we need to focus our attention on one or two so we can improve our chances of medalling in 2012. There will be no rash decisions,” he said.

The newly re-formed duo of Brotherton and Asquith finished 10th at the championships, which ended on Sunday, in what will be considered a most promising result in advance of the games selection process for the asymmetric racing dinghy which is one of the highest profile Olympic classes.

Financial support from the sport’s national authority, the Royal Yachting Association, is seen to be key to the approach to the London Games.

The worlds were won for the third time by the Spaniards Iker Martinez and Xabier Fernandez adding to their Olympic gold medal from Athens in 2004 and silver medal from Beijing in 2008.

In true championship fashion, Martinez/Fernandez also won the medal races.

Two-time defending champions Nathan Outteridge and Iain Jensen from Australia made a strong push by winning both the morning races moving them into second which they held through the final results.

Pietro and Gianfranco Sibello of Italy won the bronze.

Overall results: 1st Iker Martinez-Xabier Fernandez, ESP, (57pts); 2nd Nathan Outteridge-Iain Jensen, AUS, (84pts); 3rd Pietro Sibello-Gianfranco Sibello, ITA (96pts). GBR: 5th Dylan Fletcher-Alain Sign (106pts); 6th Chris Draper-Peter Greenhalgh (108pts); 7th Stevie Morrison-Ben Rhodes (111pts); 8th John Pink-Rick Peacock (111pts); 10th Paul Brotherton-Mark Asquith (138pts).