ANY personal disappointment at not finishing among the medals quickly evaporated for Charlotte Dobson.
The Helensburgh sailor had harboured high hopes at taking something from the 49er event with partner Saskia Tidey before settling for a sixth-place finish overall after taking seventh in the medal race.
Dobson was barely out the water and still processing her week’s achievements when her focus immediately switched to following fiancé Dylan Fletcher and his partner Stuart Bithell’s attempt to win the men’s equivalent final.
Fletcher went on to fare better than his future wife-to-be with he and Bithell taking gold with a grandstand finish that took them past the defending champions Peter Burling and Blair Tuke of New Zealand.
That sparked a joyous and emotional reunion with Dobson in Enoshima Yacht Harbour, with the pair set to get married in Pennsylvania Castle in Portland later this month.
And the Scot couldn’t have been happier for her future spouse. “It was amazing to watch – very, very stressful,” said Dobson.
“I think he'll have that gold medal on the dining room table for a while. That will be one of the sailing moments of the Games. It epitomises the yin and yang of sport. You risk feeling terrible to feel like that.”
Another sailor, Luke Patience, will look to put Helensburgh on the Olympic map again on Wednesday when he competes in the 470 class medal race.
Patience and partner Chris Grube slipped one place to fifth in the standings after the tenth and final fleet race.
The duo competed together in Rio finishing fifth but with the 470 changing to a mixed event from 2024 this will be Grube and Patience’s last Olympic adventure together.
And the Scot previously vowed to go out “all guns blazing” to try to get on the podium and sign off on a high.
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