Scotland’s Luke Patience insists the hard work has only just begun for him and partner Stuart Bithell as they set about proving their World Championship heroics were no fluke.

The 23-year-old joined forces with Bithell for the first time just two weeks before travelling to Denmark in August and upsetting the 470 field to claim silver on the Copenhagen shores.

Patience – a former Hermitage Academy pupil – is no stranger to the world stage having competed every time since 2005 but has only ever managed a best of 18th alongside Chris Grube in Melbourne last year.

The race for the London 2012 Olympic 470 boat is wide open with double silver medallists Nick Rogers and Joe Glanfield temporarily parting company after the latter decided to take an 18-month break.

Patience and Bithell also have to contend with Nic Asher and Elliot Willis – but the Scottish sailor admitted the real test lies in maintaining their World Championship exploits beyond 2009.

“Sailing is not like other sports, you can’t be lucky and get a medal – we know that but we need to make sure we show everyone else,” said Patience – who used to sail for the Royal Northern and Clyde Yacht Club.

“The important thing for us now is to make sure we prove to everyone that it wasn’t a fluke.  That will be the most difficult thing for us now because people will be expecting things from us. 

“But we don’t mind that – we have taken a lot of confidence from what happened in Denmark but the difficult thing now will be keeping the level up. 

“It’s going to be hard because things have changed a lot with the silver medal, but we just need to strike a balance and we’ll be fine.

“We joked about getting a medal at the World Championships before we went, but then to do it, that means there is a lot more expectation now. 

“We have proved that we can do it but if we don’t stay where we are people are going to say it was a fluke.”

Patience – again alongside Bithell – brought his season to a temporary close at the Skandia Sail for Gold Regatta in Weymouth, repeating their world heroics and claiming silver.

The duo finished second only to fellow Brits Asher and Willis on the Olympic shores, but with a return pencilled in for December – Patience admitted he won’t be throwing caution to the wind.

“For the next few months there will be no regattas and it is important that we strike a happy medium as a pair in terms of our training,” he added.

“It would be quite easy to look at what happened in Denmark and Weymouth and say ‘right, we need to work harder than ever,’ and really overdo it, and that would be counterproductive.

“At the same time though we can’t just go and do nothing for the next two months and then go to America in December and think we will be alright.”

Tom Reynolds, courtesy of Sportsbeat