MARKET HARBOROUGH’S Dylan Fletcher admitted he was at a loss to explain his poor form after only scraping inside the top 20 at the ISAF Sailing World Championships in Australia.

The 23-year-old skipper and crew Alain Sign were one of four British 49er crews in Fremantle all bidding to impress selectors and earn the right to sail the sole London 2012 boat.

However, aside from injury to Stevie Morrison and Ben Rhodes, they finished bottom of the pile in 17th with John Pink and Rick Peacock fourth and Dave Evans and Ed Powys sixth.

But Fletcher couldn't put his finger on what went wrong for him and Sign and is uncertain as to what will happen next in the race for next year's Olympics.

"We just weren't sailing at our best and I don't really know why that is and that is the most annoying part," said Skandia Team GBR sailor Fletcher.

"I am sure we will sit down and have a long debrief with our coach and [RYA Olympic Manager] Stephen Park and we will point out exactly what went wrong.

"And at the moment we don't know what the selectors will be thinking. Because Stevie and Ben pulled out we expect it might go to the next event that they are at.

"But we don't really know and at the end of the day they are committed to picking the best person who is going to bring home a gold medal.

"They don't mind who goes to the Games and gets them their gold medal as long as someone from Britain goes to the Games and gets them it."

One thing Fletcher is certain of is that he and Sign will return Down Under in the New Year along with their British rivals Pink and Peacock and Evans and Powys.

And Fletcher, who won European silver with Sign in Finland back in June, admits the sooner they can move on from their Australian disappointment the better.

"There are a lot of positives to come from the regatta but there are an awful lot of negatives too," he added.

"This is our worst regatta in terms of how we have sailed since 2008 when we were last in Australia.

"This event has just been one to forget but we can't forget it because we have got to work out what went wrong and learn from the mistakes."

PLEASE LEAVE IN FINAL PAR - Investment specialist Skandia is the principal sponsor of the British sailing team. For more information go to www.skandiateamgbr.com