Australia’s world champion 470 dinghy crew Malcolm Page and Mathew Belcher have won a gold medal at the sailing World Cup in the US.
The pair entered Saturday’s medal race off Miami’s coast with a commanding 10-point lead over Dutch brothers Sven and Kalle Coster and already guaranteed a silver medal.
Page and Belcher, who are key 2012 Olympic medal hopes, finished the race last in light and variable conditions.
But the Coster brothers only managed eighth, giving Page and Belcher overall victory by six points.
It’s the first time in four attempts the Australian duo has won in Miami.
“It’s nice to finally get the win here. We’ve been second the last three years and I can tell you that one first is always better than three seconds,” Belcher said.
Page and Belcher won a silver medal at the first World Cup event of the season in Melbourne in November.
They next head to the northern hemisphere to compete in European World Cup regattas and begin preparations for the Olympics.
Australian women’s match racing team Olivia Price, Nina Curtis and Lucinda Whitty took a silver medal in Miami.
The trio lost out in the final race to gold medal winners Great Britain.
Australian sailor Brendan Casey finished fourth in the Finn class.