KATHERINE Grainger continued what is becoming a procession towards London 2012 with another Rowing World Cup gold, but it was a mixed weekend for Marlow team-mates Zac Purchase, Mark Hunter and Greg Searle.

Grainger followed up her women’s double scull victory in the first World Cup in Bled with another victory in Lucerne, to continue her remarkable record with Anna Watkins of not being beaten since they paired up two years ago.

They took control of the race early on and never lost the lead as they crossed the line nearly three seconds ahead of Poland and five seconds ahead of Germany.

Grainger said: “We new a couple of the crews had really good finishes so we were determined to get into control.”

Searle will also be relatively pleased with his work, after moving to the bow seat in the men’s eights and helping GB to silver behind the Germans.

It’s a familiar position for GB, but they will be encouraged that they closed the gap.

Despite needing a repechage to reach the final, they proved again Germany’s closest rival as they pushed the world champions from start to finish before crossing the line a second behind them.

Searle said: “It was good to be that close the Germans and very exciting but we all know we still have more to find. This crew is moving on every time we race.”

However, for Purchase and Huinter, this was a World Cup to forget.

The reigning Olympic and World champions struggled all weekend and that continued into the final, where they never threatened the leading boats before finishing last.

Hunter said: “It is good that this has happened here and now because we can kind of go back to the drawing board and make sure we are looking after ourselves a bit more and we have enough time to get things right.”

The third and final world cup of the series takes place in Munich in two weeks.