Australia's superstar 470 crew of Mat Belcher and Will Ryan have signed off a triumphant sailing year with another big regatta victory on the Olympic waters off Rio de Janeiro.
The 470-class world champions only needed a second placing in Saturday's medal race to clinch the title on Rio's Guanabara Bay, having overcome a slow start to the 80-crew Copa Brasil de Vela to claim five consecutive race wins.
They went into the last race six points ahead of Americans Stuart McNay and Dave Hughes who finished second overall, with Austrian Olympians Matthias Schmid and Florian Reichstadter third while the British crew of Olympic silver medallist Luce Patience and Elliot Willis finished fourth.
Belcher and Ryan won the first Rio Olympics test event in August and returned to get more practice in the conditions ahead of the 2016 Rio Games.
"You can never have enough practice," said Belcher.
"It's a long way from Australia and unfortunately we missed our World Cup regatta in Melbourne, but it was important to come over here.
"We are here to learn the conditions and just wanted to spend a bit more time in Rio and get used to the conditions and learn more about the venue."
The Copa Brasil de Vela win finishes off a successful year for Belcher and Ryan who have dominated the men's 470 class since teaming up after the London 2012 Olympic Games.
Coached by Victor Kovalenko, they have finished on the podium at every international regatta they competed in, most notably being crowned world champions at the 2014 ISAF World Championships in Santander, Spain in September.
That was their second consecutive world title together and brings Belcher's tally to a record-breaking five in a row. The win qualified Australia a spot at the 2016 Olympics.
They were also crowned 2014 European and Australian champions and finished the year with two golds, a silver and a bronze at the four ISAF World Cup events and won the ISAF Sailing World Cup Final in Abu Dhabi in November.
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