George Gautrey has only one regret after securing a brilliant bronze medal at the Sailing World Championships overnight – that he couldn’t turn it into silver for his biggest fan back home.

Gautrey claimed New Zealand’s first podium spot on the final day of competition in The Hague with a fifth place in the ILCA 7 (Laser) medal race following a tight tussle with Britain’s Michael Beckett.

Having already been guaranteed silverware after a dramatic last day of qualifying 24 hours earlier, and with Australia’s Matt Wearn enjoying an unassailable lead, the 10-boat medal race was effectively a shootout for second place between Beckett and the Kiwi.

A wicked wind shift saw Gautrey take an early lead in the finale before an error at the top mark proved costly.

“I led around the top and then made a meal of it on the first run, but that’s yachting. That’s something to look back on but I can walk away with my head held high,” Gautrey said after the race, which saw Beckett finish second to Frenchman Jean Baptiste Bernaz – and five points ahead of Gautrey overall.

“I think I got what I deserved this week. I was clearly behind these guys [Wearn and Beckett] in the racing, but clearly in front of the guys behind me – so I’m quite happy with my week.”

Gautrey had a slow start to the competition but managed to work his way back up the leaderboard with five top-ten results in the final seven qualifying races – picking up two race wins along the way.

“Eight days of sailing on the trot is a big regatta and doing it in the Laser makes it even harder.

“I started off the week pretty slow in qualifying and just made a habit of chipping away each day, trying to move up a few spots here and there and I found myself in the mix at the end of the week, with the big boys, which is always where you want to be.

“I’m a little gutted to lose silver to Mickey, but he deserved it. He sailed cracking all week and the same with Matt. Just to be up with those two and be in the conversation, it’s a good place for me to be.”

Gautrey had a special message for mum Susan, who has been supporting him from her home in Wellington.

“I’m sorry to my mother, who had to watch that – I’m sure she’s pulling her hair out,” Gautrey laughed.

“I think she’s watched every minute of [race] tracking back in New Zealand from 2am to 4am so I feel sorry for her more than anything!”

With this result, Gautrey also secured New Zealand a position on the ILCA 7 start line at next year’s Olympic Games in Paris.

He is one of six Kiwi crews to book a Games spot this week along with the 49er, 49erFX, Nacra 17, and men’s and women’s windfoil.

The 25-year-old will put his feet up for a few days before starting work with coach Mark Howard on the next chapter in what has been a breakout season for him – winning silver at the Princess Sofia Regatta in April and finishing fourth at last month’s test event in Marseille in the most fiercely contested Olympic fleet.

“Obviously, I still have some things to tidy up on, because you don’t come to these events to come third,” Gautrey said.

“It will be an exciting next six or so months before the next [ILCA 7] world champs to try and close the gap up to Matty and Mickey.”

Earlier this week, Isaac McHardie and Will McKenzie finished fourth in the 49er fleet, while Jo Aleh and Molly Meech (sixth in the 49erFX), Josh Armit (seventh in the men’s windfoil), and Micah Wilkinson and Erica Dawson (eighth in the Nacra 17) all impressed in challenging conditions.

Experience in the strong current and difficult sea states throughout the week will stand the Kiwi sailors in good stead, said Yachting New Zealand high-performance director Ian Stewart.

“We’re thrilled for George getting on the podium and battling for silver at the very end,” Stewart said.

“We’d obviously love to have more medals, but we’re buoyed that teams and sailors are moving in the right way. It’s the world champs and to be the best in the world isn’t easy but to have five teams in the top 10 is exciting and it all bodes well.”

Final results and standing at the 2023 Sailing World Championships in The Hague.

49er (83 boats)

1st: Bart Lambriex/Floris Van De Werken (Ned) 1 4 5 2 1 1 3 5 2 10 (13) 6 1 1 3 18 - 63 points

2nd: Sebastien Schneiter/Arno De Planta (Sui) 3 4 3 9 7 5 2 1 6 (25) 9 4 12 5 5 16 - 91 pts

3rd: Diego Botin/Florian Trittel (Esp) 1 1 5 3 8RDG 2.8RDG 1 1 2 8 12 7 4 (26BFD) 16 20 - 91.8 pts

4th: Isaac McHardie/Will McKenzie (NZ) 2 (15) 8 7 2 6 6 6 4 2 7 10 (26RET) 9 13 2 - 99 pts

23rd: Logan Dunning Beck/Oscar Gunn (NZ) 2 (29UFD) 12 10 2 1 4 17 3 20 14 20 14 19 22 - 160 pts

41st: Campbell Stanton/William Shapland (NZ) 16 5 (26) 16 10 20 22 14 13 18 2 14 13 16 14 - 193 pts

81st: Sam Bacon/Cailen Rochford (NZ) 12 29UFD 18 16 15 7 29DNC 29DNC 29DNC (30DNC) 30DNC 30 DNC 30DNC 30DNC - 304 pts

49erFX (59 boats)

1st: Vilma Bobeck/Rebecca Netzler (Swe) 2 3 1 1 1 1 1 3 1 2 3 19 (26BFD) 1 9 - 48 pts

2nd: Odile Van Aanholt/Annette Duetz (Ned) 3 10 7 1 10 (30DSQ) 1 1 8 7 11 9 2 2 12 - 84 pts

3rd: Olivia Price/Evie Haseldine (Aus) 1 4 2 3 2 5 3 10 9 3 12 (23) 4 10 20 - 88 pts

6th: Jo Aleh/Molly Meech (NZ) 4 7 3 13 5 2 12 1 10 15 10 11 6 (18) 7 - 106 pts

49th: Courtney Reynolds-Smith/Brianna Reynolds-Smith (NZ) 21 14 25 24 23 22 23 28 22 23 24 19 25 (30) - 293 pts

Nacra 17 mixed (49 boats)

1st: Ruggero Tita/Caterina Banti (Ita) 1 1 1 2 1 1 1 1 1 9 (12) 5 1 1 3 2 - 31 pts

2nd: John Gimson/Anna Burnet (GBR) 3 2 2 3 3 1 3 5 5 1 (20) 4 3 6 4 12 - 57 pts

3rd: Emil Jarudd/Hanna Jonsson (Swe) 2 7 3 4 6 4 6 1 (17) 2 7 1 7 5 7 4 - 66 pts

8th: Micah Wilkinson/Erica Dawson (NZ) 5 (26UFD) 7 3 2 5 3 4 4 7 6 11 8 10 2 16 - 93 pts

470 mixed (64 boats)

1st: Keiju Okada/Miho Yoshioka (Jpn) 1 4 1 6 3 2 5 1 (24) 3 14 10 - 50 pts

2nd: Jordi Xammar Hernandez/Nora Brugman Cabot (Esp) 7 13 4 4 15 5 (20) 4 3 8 15 8 - 86 pts

3rd: Tetsuya Isozaki/Yurie Seki (Jpn) 6 8 12 1 2 11 6 13 14 (21) 12 6 - 91 pts

53rd: Derek Scott/Rebecca Hume (NZ) 27 28 27 21 23 17 7 6 (32UFD) 14 22 - 192 pts

57th: Brittany Wornall/Sam Street (NZ) 29 24 12 19 26 (32UFD) 32RET 30 22 7 24 - 225 pts

60th: Annabelle Rennie-Younger/Blake McGlashan (NZ) 26 32 (33RET) 25 24 12 24 31 15 13 27 - 229 pts

ILCA 7 (138 boats)

1st: Matt Wearn (Aus) 11 11 6 5 1 3 2 7 25 (65) 12 - 83 pts

2nd: Michael Beckett (GBR) 3 1 3 2 (70BFD) 2 5 8 2 66 4 - 96 pts

3rd: George Gautrey (NZ) 15 16 3 4 16 1 1 26 (70BFD) 9 10 - 101 pts

11th: Tom Saunders (NZ) 10 13 21 3 17 30 7 (34) 32 17 - 150 pts

89th: Luke Deegan (NZ) 43 23 (50) 30 7 34 25 45 15 28 - 250 pts

101st: Caleb Armit (NZ) 39 (56) 51 22 36STP 35 43 37 28 19 - 310 pts

ILCA 6 (109 boats)

1st: Maria Erdi (Hun) 5 1 3 7 17 4 22 6 (49) 4 6 -75 pts

2nd: Maud Jayet (Sui) 21 15 (43) 1 1 2 2 7 3 13 14 - 79 pts

3rd: Anne-Marie Rindom (Den) 2 12 8 3 9 (24) 19 5 10 1 12 - 81 pts

71st: Olivia Christie (NZ) 19 43 17 (55) 14 29 22 10 17 24 - 195 pts

84th: Greta Pilkington (NZ) 23 45 30 14 22 36 32 11 (56UFD) 41 - 254 pts

Men’s windfoil (93 boards)

1st: Luuc Van Opzeeland (Ned) 1 5 1 3 (6) 1 3 (21) 5 2 (12) 6 9 4 1 1 - 40 pts

2nd: Sebastian Kordel (Ger) 9.3RDG 3 1 1 4 (31) (27) 1 1 3 6 3 (19) 7 2 2 - 39.3 pts

3rd: Nicolo Renna (Ita) (15) 3 3 5 (9) 5 1 1 1 1 (11) 4 3 1 3 - 28 pts

7th: Josh Armit (NZ) 7 (19) 9 (31) 6 9 7 3 3 16 (17) 2 17 10 4 - 89 pts

34th: Eli Liefting (NZ) (51BFD) 11 (27) 15 17 19 21 9 13 27 (38) 23 27 30 - 212 pts

35th: Thomas Crook (NZ) 15 9 21 (51BFD) 18 22.7RDG (35) 17 11 28 (45) 39 12 20 - 212.7 pts

59th: Patrick Haybittle (NZ) (51BFD) 15 (39) 33 31 39 31 23 23 3 1 5 6 (21) - 210 pts

Women’s windfoil (88 boards)

1st: Shahar Tibi (Isr) 3 (10) 1 8 5 3 (11) 1 1 (15) 4 5 6 1 1 1 - 38 pts

2nd: Katy Spychakov (Isr) 5 2 5 3 (19) 5 (47BFD) 1 7 (28) 7 2 1 2 2 2 - 40 pts

3rd: Emma Wilson (GBR) 4 3 2 1 2 (7) (7) 1 3 (10) 1 1 3 6 3 - 27 pts

22nd: Veerle ten Have (NZ) (25) 18 10 17 8 9 (47BFD) 9 11 21 13 4 26 (37) - 146 pts

66th: Aimee Bright (NZ) 25 25 22 (38) 16 29 15 (39) 33 (36) 22 34 29 14 - 264 pts

82nd: Stella Bilger (NZ) 30 (40) 36 33 (39) 39 33 35 37 (39) 38 24 35 36 - 376 pts

Men’s kitefoil (84 boards)

1st: Maximilian Maeder (SGP) 11 1 1 2 2 1 1 1 2 4 (8) 2 (9) 3 (7) 2 - 23 pts

2nd: Toni Vodisek (Slo) 1 1 1 3 (4) 1 1 2 1 2 1 1 (11) 4 (17) 3 - 22 pts

3rd: Axel Mazella (Fra) (16) 1 1 4 2 3 2 1 2 2 14 4 (19) 7 4 (20) - 47 pts

28th: Lukas Walton-Keim (NZ) 9 5 7 (15) 4 10 12 10 (29DNF) (13) 13 11 6 10 2 - 99 pts

Women’s kitefoil (53 boards)

1st: Lauriane Nolot (Fra) (7) 1 1 2 (28DNC) 1 1 1 2 1 1 1 (4) 4 1 1 - 18 pts

2nd: Eleanor Aldridge (GBR) (13) (28DNF) 2 2 2 1 2 1 1 2 1 3 2 2 3 (7) - 24 pts

3rd: Lily Young (GBR) (28DNF) 2 2 1 2 (28DSQ) 2 3 (28UFD) 6 2 4 9 9 5 2 - 49 pts

24th: Justina Kitchen (NZ) 4 11 (28RET) 10 8 14 8 9 (17) 7 9 11 20 (21) 20 21 - 152 pts