Morrison and Rhodes returned to form in Holland

British Olympic 49er sailors Stevie Morrison and Ben Rhodes struck gold in the Delta Lloyd Regatta in Medemblik, Holland on Sunday.

The Beijing-bound duo led overnight and sailed conservatively in the medal race, opting not to hoist their spinnaker in the brisk winds.

They finished third to triumph overall, while Ed Wright won bronze in the Finn.

Britain's Yngling world and European champions Sarah Ayton, Sarah Webb and Pippa Wilson also won bronze.

Morrison and Rhodes finished third in the medal race and were pleased their tactics paid off.

"Five boats capsized at the first mark, and then another two boats went in on the first run so by the time we'd reached the leeward mark only three boats had managed to stay upright," said Morrison.

"We knew we needed to finish no worse than fifth if we were to win, so with all that going on around us it seemed to be the sensible option.

"It was a question of brains over valour - it didn't look too cool, but was the right thing to do in the grand scheme of things."

The Exmouth pair, world champions in 2007 and runners-up in Melbourne in January, were glad to avoid the equipment failures which have dogged recent regattas.

"We feel we've actually been sailing pretty well all year, but our results haven't shown that," said Rhodes.

"This event has always been a bit of a focus event for us this year - it fits in pretty well with our programme so it's good that we've managed to get a result here."

Wright, Britain's top Finn sailor at the event in the absence of Ben Ainslie, was in second place heading into the medal race but capsized just 200m from the finish line.

"Unforgiveable. First I kept getting the boom caught on my lifejacket, then Dan Slater tried to take me out on the second run, and then I capsized," said Wright.

Meanwhile, British Tornado pair Leigh McMillan and Will Howden were heading for a silver medal before steering the wrong course over the finish line.

They were judged to have not finished the race and so slipped back to fifth overall.

"All week it's been a committee boat finish - we didn't realise it had changed and coming downwind at that speed and in those conditions it was pretty hard to see," said Howden.

Christina Bassadone and Saskia Clark finished fourth in the 470 women's fleet, Laser Radial sailor Penny Clark came sixth overall and Star duo Iain Percy and Andrew Simpson won the medal race to finish up in seventh place.