BEWDLEY sailing star Alison Young made a strong start to the European season by taking silver at the Princess Sofia Trophy in Palma on Saturday.

Young had went into the Laser Radial final in a strong position but was unable to win the event as Belgium’s Evi Acker had already secured the regatta win.

The Wyre Forest Olympian had a 16-point cushion ahead of overall third and made sure of second spot in the medal race when she finished fourth.

The event saw then 1,000 competitors take part in 10 Olympic classes as well as dragon and kite boarding.

“It’s been a pretty solid week and some things have moved forwards, which is pleasing, and there are some learning points to take on to the rest of the season,” commented Young.

“Evi had a great week, and really well done to her. I was just trying to go out and win the medal race.

“There were two boats behind me that I had a little bit of a gap on but I just tried to sail a good race and try to win it. Fourth at the end was Okay.

“I was a bit disappointed with my performance yesterday. I didn’t get my head into the day, but the rest of the week has been pretty solid. It’s been a good way to get the European season rolling.”

The silver marked an excellent week for the British Sailing Team, which had secured seven medals in total.

Giles Scott and Helena Lucas secured final day victories to secure the bumper haul of medals.

Scott, whose unbeaten run now spans 18 months and nine world-ranked regattas, took an 11-point buffer into the final medal race for the Finn class, while Lucas ground out a victory by just one point over teammate Megan Pascoe in the Paralympic 2.4mR event.

Silver medals also went to John Gimson-Hannah Diamond in the Nacra 17 and Luke Patience-Elliot Willis in the 470 Men’s event, with Hannah Mills-Saskia Clark sealing bronze in the 470 Women’s class.

British Sailing Team duo Sophie Weguelin and Eilidh McIntyre narrowly missed out on the 470 Women’s podium spots, finishing fourth in the medal race and fourth overall.

Next up is the ISAF World Cup Hyeres between April 20 and 26, which is one of the sport’s major regattas.