Six-time 470 world champion Mat Belcher has finally tasted defeat, picking up bronze at the world championships in Argentina.
Belcher has won the past six world titles and past three with teammate Will Ryan, but they finished third after a week of tough conditions.
Croatia's Sime Fantela and Igor Marenic took home the win, with New Zealand's Paul Snow-Hansen and Daniel Willcox finishing second on Sunday (AEDT).
"I come from a string of world titles and this is a unique moment for Will and I as we haven't been through a situation where it hurt," Belcher said after the gold medal race.
"We're happy with our performance, but we're disappointed with the result."
The Australian pair had a disastrous first day that saw them sitting 33rd overall, before they eventually recovered to climb back to third.
Weeds on the course bothered all competitors, while silt in the Buenos Aires water made it hard to see wind changes.
"The weed has been a bit of the highlight of the event and it's been just tough racing and something we are not quite used to," Belcher said.
"The challenge for most of the sailors for the last couple of days has been staying out of trouble and like everyone else, we've been spending a lot of time clearing the weed this week to actually sail the race."
The pair now turn their focus to the Rio Olympics, where they are the defending gold medallists.
In the women's 470, Carrie Smith and Jaime Ryan finished 18th, while Sasha Ryan and Ella Clark finished 26th.
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