ROYAL Lymington Yacht Club pair Vita Heathcote and Milly Boyle won a silver medal for Great Britain at the Youth World Championships in Corpus Christi on the Gulf of Mexico.

Heathcote and Boyle started the final race in the girls' 420 with second place guaranteed, but with an outside chance of snatching gold from front-runners Emma and Carmen Cowles from America.

To pip the reigning champions to the title, Heathcote and Boyle had to force them down to 18th.

At the first windward mark, the sparring teams were 14th and 15th.

But, on the second upwind leg, the Cowles sisters were able to pass the 17-year-old Brits and claim gold.

Heathcote and Boyle’s silver is Great Britain’s best result in the girls’ 420 class in a decade.

Parkstone Sailing Club pair Freya Black and Millie Aldridge gave a good account of themselves in the girls’ 29er, finishing eighth.

And Matilda Nicholls, who also represents Royal Lymington, finished her Laser Radial campaign in fifth.