I'm finished with racing. Well, for the next three months anyway. The European Championships have just ended in Italy for my Finn class and that's it for me and my main rivals until we all meet again in China. So it was nice to lay down another marker before the Olympics by claiming victory off the coast of Tuscany.

It was a difficult one to pull off, though. The conditions were changing the whole time and for a number of reasons it was not the best regatta I've sailed. At one stage it even looked as if I might not make the top ten and going into Saturday's medal round I was eight points behind Guillaume Florent, of France, meaning I had to beat him by four places to take the title.

Florent and I have what you might call “form”. In the second race of the Olympics in Athens four years ago, he made an official protest that I had blocked his right of way. I didn't agree, but the judges disqualified me from that race. Fortunately, I did well enough in the subsequent races to win my second Olympic gold medal.

The Frenchman sailed a fantastic series last week, not putting a foot wrong as he built a big lead on the rest of us. In the final race, I decided the best option was to try to put Florent out of contention early by harrying him at the pre-start. It seemed to unsettle him as I pinned him in the left-hand corner and, when the race got under way in shifting winds, he was right at the back.

That job done, I had to ensure that I finished ahead of Ivan Kljakovic Gaspic, the Croat. Fortunately, I found a good position in the middle of the line and came through to win the race by more than a minute. Florent finished eighth to end up third overall.

Earlier in the week, I admit I struggled, sometimes not picking the correct side of the course. Having won the opening race, I started poorly in the second and was down in 45th place before finishing sixteenth.

That in itself needn't have been costly as you discount your worst finish, but, then, after race seven, which I won, one of my competitors lodged a protest about a start-line incident and my result was disqualified.

Boats always get in each other's way at the start and, generally, people don't complain unless it is a blatant blocking, but the sailor who complained about me was in contention to win himself and perhaps saw it as a way of advancing his own chances. It backfired as the judges decided to disqualify him, as well.

So far, this year has gone well for me. After winning my fifth World Championships title in Australia in January, I joined the British team for a training camp in Majorca that ended with me winning the Princess Sofia Trophy in Palma.

It continued an unbeaten run for me in the Finn since the last Olympics, but that has been helped by having a long break away with the America's Cup.

When it comes to the Olympics, it doesn't matter how you have done in the previous few years; it is all down to performance in one regatta and I am not for one second resting easy on my laurels. There are several sailors who will fancy taking my crown in Qingdao.

It will help that I have won two test regattas on the Olympic course, though. We are heading out there again in a fortnight for a British training camp and there will be another trip to China in July. The more experience we can all get of the very different conditions in Qingdao the better.

This will be my fourth Olympics and things are obviously very different for me now than when I first competed in Atlanta as a 19-year-old.

I was very wide-eyed and inexperienced then, fascinated by the whole Olympic extravaganza taking place around me. Now I am focused solely on the racing, there will be no other distractions.

In fact, I won't even be in Beijing for the Olympic opening ceremony because racing starts the next day. It is a shame as I'm sure the Chinese will put on an excellent show, but my focus has to be on making the best start on the water.