Hythe windsurfer Elliot Carney enjoyed the best week of his career with a top-20 finish at the ISAF World Sailing Championships in Australia.

The 21-year-old (pictured) finished no lower than eighth in his first five outings in Perth, putting him on course for the medal race.

However, he had to settle for 14th overall after failing to maintain his form in the last five races.

He said: "I had a pretty good week, one of the best I’ve ever had and it was nice to race with the top lads.

"Board speed is a major part of what we do and that has definitely improved and so have my results.

"It was nice to be able to race properly instead of chasing the fleet. I would have been happy with a top-20 and I feel like it was definitely deserved."

His sister, Claudia, was also in action Down Under although she enjoyed less success.

Ranking outside the top-34 when the fleets separated meant she missed out on competing for medals as part of the gold fleet.

She came home 11th in the silver fleet to rank 44th overall.

Having come 16th at the European Championships, Carney was disappointed not to have fared better as she makes the transition from junior to senior competition.

She said: "Finishing 16th at the Europeans was a good result and that gave me the experience of being right up there in the fleet.

"That was a positive step but in going to Perth, I went backwards. It seems when you make the transition from junior to senior, you go back a bit before you make gains and I had a bad first day."

The siblings are now building to February’s European Championships in Portugal and the World Championships in Spain a month later.

• Investment specialist Skandia is the principal sponsor of the British sailing team. For more information, go to www.skandiateamgbr.com