Peter Burling and Blair Tuke took a big step in their comeback to try and defend their Olympic title when they won the 49er European championships in Weymouth today.

It was the pair's first international title since their return to the 49er circuit and they did it in only their third international event. It's an impressive feat so soon after jumping back in the boat, particularly at a regatta that featured all of the world's top teams and over a mammoth seven days of racing.

The gold medal came on the back of Andy Maloney's silver at the Finn European championships in Athens yesterday. New Zealand's Laser squad, which includes world No 1 Sam Meech, begin their European championships in Porto tomorrow.

Burling and Tuke went into the final day holding a 17-point lead over their nearest rivals but they almost saw that slip away in the final gold fleet race. They found themselves near the back of the fleet in 22nd place in the light conditions as Great Britain's Dylan Fletcher and Stuart Bithell scooted away but clawed their way back impressively to finish ninth and maintain a nine-point lead.

It was a significant result because the wind had died completely by the time the top-10 medal race rolled around preventing any further racing.

"It's really pleasing for Pete and I," Tuke said. "It has been a really long week, lots of races in a variety of conditions. There was quite a lot of wind at the start so we are pretty tired but really stoked to come away with the win from the European championships.