Hampshire dinghy ace Nick Thompson narrowly missed out on a gold medal in the latest world event ahead of the Rio Olympics, affirming his place as one of the world's top sailors.

Thompson finished second at the ISAF Sailing World Cup in Miami, the test bed for Olympic sailing ahead of the Games proper, after being pipped to the top spot by Germany's Philipp Buhl.

The Lymington sailor went into the last race of the series assured a silver medal but with sights firmly set on gold, however disaster struck when a vital part of Thompson's boat broke in the strong winds, handing his rival Buhl the win.

Despite not taking gold, Thompson said the result put him in good stead in campaign for a medal at the upcoming Olympics in Rio.

Thompson said: “I went in with a loose tactic of a bit of a match race and I thought I did a pretty good job to be fair.

“I managed to control him on the start and then got the better of him most of the way around the track. "Then unfortunately at the first leeward mark my kicker block broke and that was kind of the end of that race. I had no speed upwind and couldn't sail it downwind. So that was it.

“I sailed a pretty solid week so I am disappointed, but the flipside was that I did sail fantastically. I didn’t really make too many mistakes this week and I feel like my sailing’s coming together. It’s mixed emotions if I’m honest.

“I really put a marker down for this event to try and win it. All things aside I got pretty close and should be pretty pleased with how I sailed I think.”

The next round of the ISAF Sailing World Cup takes place in Hyeres, France, in April.