KEY POINTS:
The ultimate goal of seeing two New Zealand RS:X world champions at Takapuna was scuppered by a disastrous start for Barbara Kendall in the final race of the regatta.
The four-time Olympian, whose championship slowly deteriorated as the week went on, got herself into a bit of a mess on the start line during the medal race and despite a brave comeback, couldn't catch the eventual winner of both the race and title, Alessandro Sensini of Italy.
"I blew the start, dammit," said Kendall after the race. "From there it was catch up and it's pretty difficult to catch Alessandra because we're such similar sailors."
It was said with a grin, however, suggesting that Kendall can easily put this championship behind her and not let it affect her preparations for the Beijing Olympics later this year.
She may also have been grinning because terrible start aside, she produced a fantastic performance in the medal race.
In what turned out to be an organiser's dream, Kendall and Sensini came into the final race equal on points. That was the scenario that unfolded after the New Zealander endured a forgettable penultimate day on Friday where she finished an unconvincing seventh in the only race of the day.
Sensini took out that race with an imperious performance where she led from start to finish and it was the commanding form of the Italian that had Kendall feeling the pressure.
The Kiwi icon had confessed earlier in the week, that despite all her experience, she had been feeling a little nervous each morning.
Maybe she was looking too hard to get an early advantage on her revered opponent but her failure to time her start handed the Italian a critical advantage she could hardly believe.
"I lost Barbara," said Sensini of the start. "I was looking for her at the start and when I couldn't see her, I just thought, 'oh well, I'll sail the way I want'. "I got the first mark and was there first with good space behind me."
Amazingly, Kendall, on a day of strong winds that were gusting up to 25 knots, made it to the first mark in fourth and then managed to make up a huge distance on the final leg to pass Blanca Manchon. She finished just 12 seconds behind Sensini.
The victory brought the Italian her fourth world championship, having won the event in 2000, 2004 and 2006, and brings her equal in overall titles with Kendall.
But while Kendall had to settle for silver, New Zealand still snared a gold medal when Tom Ashley recovered from a poor race on Friday to finish fourth in the medal race which pushed him nine points clear of Portugal's Joao Rodrigues overall.
Ashley's fourth place capped a fine week for the New Zealander who led the field from the first race and never relinquished his lead despite seeing the gap close to four points coming into the final race.
With Rodrigues in particular looking dangerous the more the week went on, Ashley could have succumbed to nerves, as he has done in previous championships.
The 23-year-old, however, didn't panic and applied some smart tactical thinking when it really mattered. While Przemyslaw Miarczynski of Poland and Nick Dempsey of Britain were slugging it out to win the medal race, Ashley kept his nearest challengers - Rodrigues and Israel's Shahar Zubari - in sight at all times and made sure that he did just enough to stay in front of them without worrying what was happening elsewhere.
"It has been a great week of racing for me," he said. "I feel I have learned a lot and really enjoyed it as well. There is no doubt this experience and winning here will help me in the future."
Zubari, who had been in silver medal position for much of the week, finished eighth in the medal race which saw him take the bronze behind Rodrigues, whose fifth place secured the silver.
New Zealand's John Paul Tobin finished eighth overall.
