The British trio, who carried huge support as they raced on Fremantle's Inner Harbour course following their dramatic comeback to qualify from the semi-final, were on the back foot from the opening race, when they picked up two penalties which allowed Tunnicliffe to take an early lead, and they were handed a further penalty in the pre-start of the second race to leave them chasing the world No1 number one-ranked crew.

"I think we have pretty mixed emotions right now," said 25-year-old helm Macgregor, whose team had to come through an epic 43 matches over 14 days in Fremantle – the most of any crew – to claim their Championship silver.

"We were really pleased with the fight that went on out on the water and there was some really close racing. 

"We made some big mistakes getting some penalties but without them we'd have been looking very strong today and the score line could have looked quite different.

"It's certainly been some good training for the Olympics!" said Lush of their intensive schedule at these World Championships.

"We've had quite a lot of different conditions and we're really pleased with how we've been sailing.

"I think everyone saw our speed out there was good – we're sailing the boat well and there are just a couple of mistakes to iron out before next year but we've got a few months.

"Just a little bit more and we'll take her!"

The 31-year-old Lush, who was bidding for a record-equalling fourth World Championship win here in Perth, was satisfied with silver after a challenging year for the 2012-selected crew.

"It's been a good year for us but a difficult one. 

"We've had a lot of ups and downs starting with me being out of sailing injured at the beginning of the year, a new coach and a lot of new things this year and I think that's all really come together [here].

"It was just so much fun sailing today, we were so excited to be out there and I can't wait to see where we can get to for next year."

The match racing trio's silver takes Britain's medal tally at these World Championships to four – one gold, two silver and one bronze – with two days of competition still to go.

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