The pair took gold in the men's 470 event on the waters of Biscayne Bay in Miami ahead of Olympic champion Belcher and partner Will Ryan - who finished in second to take silver, while bronze went to defending champions Stu McNay and Dave Hughes of the United States.

"We are very happy because it was the objective to win the regatta and be better than Mat and Will," Bouvet said.

"We try to do our best in every important regatta.

"Here was very important for us because it's the start of 2014 and we wanted to let everybody know how good we are."

A pragmatic Belcher praised the quality of the field and said his focus is now on Rio 2016.

"Getting in six races as opposed to 10 was challenging, but the French had a great regatta, and so did the Americans," Belcher said.

"The fleet quality here is phenomenal.

"We've got most of the top 15 in the world here.

"We've learned a lot about our competitors and how they race in these conditions.

"It certainly motivated the fleet to try and turn those results, but for us it's all about Rio.

"And these conditions will be similar to Rio."

Giles Scott secured victory in the Finn event at the ISAF Sailing World Cup Miami ©Getty Images


Meanwhile, Italy's Vittorio Bissaro and Silvia Sicouri secured their first World Cup victory in the Nacra 17, after they won the medal race by 16 seconds over compatriots Federica Salva and Francesco Bianchi.

Austrians Thomas Zajac and Tanja Frank came through in seventh in the medal race to secure silver, with the bronze going to Britons Ben Saxton and Hannah Diamond.

Greece's Byron Kokalanis won the men's RS:X medal race to take gold, as Israel's Nimrod Mashich finished in sixth to win silver and Japan's Makoto Tomizawa secured bronze.

"I'm very excited to win this race," Kokalanis said.

"The World Cup is one of the most important races."

The women's equivalent race saw world number one Bryony Shaw of Great Britain take her first gold of 2014 ahead of silver medallist Laura Linares of Italy and bronze medal winner Flavia Tartaglini also of Italy.

Elsewhere, Britain's Sophie Weguelin and Eilidh McIntyre won the women's 470 medal race to seal the gold medal, ahead of France's Camille Lecointre and Hélène Defrance and Lara Vadlau and Jolanta Ogar of Austria.

Bryony Shaw claimed her first gold medal of 2014 in the women's RS:X race ©Getty Images


The United States' Paige Railey successfully defended her ISAF Sailing World Cup Miami title from 2013 in the laser radial, with Marit Bouwmeester of the Netherlands finishing in the silver medal position and Denmark's Anne-Marie Rindom in bronze.

Croatian world number two Tonči Stipanović took gold in the men's laser event, ahead of Brazil's world champion Robert Scheidt and Briton Nick Thompson.

The Finn event saw British 2011 world champion Giles Scott secure gold, with Austria's Oliver Tweddell and Brazil's Jorge João Zarif winning silver and bronze respectively.

"It was a very difficult race and I played it very conservatively," Scott said.

"Oli was a bit more high-risk.

"I managed to dial him down when I was coming down on the port layline on the downwind.

"That held him up another couple of boat lengths which confirmed it for me."

French pair Sarah Steyaert and Julie Bossard took gold in the 49erFX over Italians Giulia Conti and Francesca Clapcich and Britons Frances Peters and Nicola.

Denmark's Jonas Warrer and Peter Lang took the 49er gold, with the US' Brad Funk and Trevor Burd claiming silver and Britain's Stevie Morrison and Chris Grube the bronze.

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