Britons Nic Asher and Elliot Willis took gold in the 470 World Championships as Devon's Joe Glanfield and Nick Rogers finished ninth.
Asher and Willis secured their victory in Melbourne in the final race, capping a remarkable comeback after recovering from a mid-race collision.
Glanfield and Rogers fell from third place after poor results in qualifying.
Despite trailing by eight places, it is Glanfield and Rogers who have the solitary spot in the Olympics team.
606: DEBATE
Asher insisted he and Willis will do everything they can to ensure Rogers and Glanfield take the gold in China.
He said: "The world championships were our primary focus for this year after missing out on selection for the Olympics.
"We have not sailed at the level we normally sail"
"Now we want to make sure that Great Britain wins the gold medal at Beijing and we will be helping Nick and Joe as their training partners in the run up to the Games as well as getting our own campaign sorted for 2012 selection."
Rogers admitted he and Glanfield had to work harder in the run-up to China.
"We are disappointed because we have not sailed at the level we normally sail and this is not how we see ourselves," he said.
"But it is amazing for Nic and Elliott to have won the world title again and I've been very impressed with them all week. It is great for us to have that depth of talent to work with in the build-up to Qingdao."
Meanwhile, Beijing-nominated pair Christina Bassadone and Saskia Clark finished seventh in the women's 470 World Championships.
~RS~q~RS~~RS~z~RS~21~RS~)