HAMPSHIRE sailor Alain Sign suffered Olympic heartbreak last night as he and crew mate Dylan Fletcher lost the chance of a medal when they capsized in the final race.

Sign, from Lee-on-the-Solent, and Fletcher were making the second turn in the last 49er class race of the regatta in Guanabara Bay when a strong gust of wind turned over the dinghy.

The pair had started the medal race in fourth position after a stunning performance on the penultimate day of sailing.

They notched up a first, third and sixth in the final three qualification races to earn a shot at a medal when the top 10 49er crews returned to the water.

With New Zealanders Blair Tuke and Pete Burling having already secured gold, Sign and Fletcher were only trailing the second-placed Germans by 13 points and the third-placed Australians by 10 points.

It meant Sign and Fletcher had to put six boats between themselves and the Germans and four between themselves and the Australians to claim the silver medal.

But the mishap put paid to any chance of making the podium at Rio 2016.

Double Olympic champion Shirley Robertson, who was on board the TV boat following the race, said: “They were pushing so hard there to catch up on their rivals.

“You also have to remember that the 49ers are one of the hardest boats to control. You spend your whole time sailing stood up, and with the wind strong today it can lead to mistakes.”

Sign and Fletcher eventually had to settle for sixth place overall after being placed last in the medal race, which carries double points.

It meant they failed to follow in the wake of Hannah Mills and Saskia Clark, who confirmed their gold medal in the women’s 470 class yesterday.

It took Britain’s sailing medal haul to three after Giles Scott’s Finn triumph and Nick Dempsey’s silver in the men’s RS:X, seeing the team meet their minimum UK Sport target.

Scott was sailing in the class that Hampshire Olympic legend Sir Ben Ainslie, from Lymington, made his own with golds at three successive games, culminating in his emotional triumph at London 2012. He had previous won a silver and gold in the Laser class in 1996 and 2000.

Gold also saw Mills and Clark bring down the curtain on their partnership in the best possible way.

The duo won London 2012 silver just 18 months after pairing up, with the desire to go one better driving the duo on to Brazil.

Clark, who turns 37 next week, always planned to retire after her third Olympics and can do so having wrapped up gold with Mills in front of Sugarloaf Mountain.