WEST Mersea sailor Saskia Clark believes winning bronze at the Princess Sofia Trophy is a sign of progress being made.

Clark and helm Hannah Mills battled to third place in the 470 Women’s class in the European season-opening event, staged in Palma.

The pair had to contend with shifting winds and fluctuating pressure across the course, in the first regatta of the EUROSAF Champions Sailing Cup series.

And Clark was happy with their efforts over the week and with how far they have come over recent months.

She said: “We’re really pleased with how our training’s gone this winter.

“We’ve had two chances to check in with it – Miami and here – and I know we’ve come away with the same result as last year here, so on paper it might look like nothing has changed.

“But we really do feel like we’ve pushed forward a great deal with our equipment and comms in the boat, so we’re really pleased.”

Clark and Mills, who won silver at the 2012 London Olympics, held on for bronze in difficult conditions, in Palma.

Mills said: “The wind was tracking right the whole time, but the pressure would come down a bit randomly and sometimes the left would just get the pressure first and sail round everyone on the right.

“There were place changes all over and quite weirdly we all ended up bunched together on the last run for a quite exciting finish!”

The bronze won by Clark and Mills took the British Sailing team’s medal tally to seven at the Palma event.

The focus now switches to the ISAF Sailing World Cup Hyeres, which begins in the south of France on Monday.

The event will see Clark and Mills continue their preparations for the 2016 Rio Olympics.