As I look back on 2008 I have a huge sense of relief that I have managed to get through the longest and toughest year of my life relatively unscathed and with the honour at the end of it of being nominated for the BBC Sports Personality of the Year award, having won the BOA and ISAF sailor of the year awards.

My goal for the year was the Olympic Games in August and the road towards that began relatively late compared with my main rivals. I did not set foot in my Finn boat until the end of 2007 because of my commitments in the America’s Cup, but I won my fifth Finn Gold Cup, the World Championship, in January, which earned me a ticket to Beijing.

To win my third consecutive Olympic gold medal was amazing for me personally and was a payback for all the support I have received from so many people, most notably my sponsor, JPMorgan Asset Management. It realised that time was tight in the build-up to the Games and so left me to my training when it could have been demanding corporate days and appearances. That allowed me to focus solely on Beijing.

Jez Fanstone, my coach, was also invaluable this year, setting out a programme that ticked off all the vital preparation while allowing me to be fully rested and raring to go. And finally I owe thanks to my parents, who have been there from the beginning, through four Olympics, and continue to be a tremendous support.

It feels as if it was the longest year of my life and that is down to the fact that after the Games, instead of having a rest, life just got busier. Three days after flying home I went to Sardinia to race in the Maxi World Championships. A 100ft racing yacht was about as far away from my 14ft Finn dinghy as you can get, but it was important to get away from the Olympics hype and do what seems natural in a relatively low-pressure environment. I don’t think that I will be getting back in a Finn again until at least 2010.

Eventually I couldn’t put off the inevitable and had to return home to begin a tour of social functions, sponsors’ engagements, TV appearances and many, many parties. The reception was more intense than after any of my other Olympics. For the first time people who knew nothing about sailing were stopping me in the street to offer congratulations and, for a sailor other than Dame Ellen MacArthur, this was a surreal feeling. It took a month to catch up with everyone who needed to be thanked and then it was time to get back to sailing and the next challenge, the America’s Cup.

Last year Sir Keith Mills launched Team Origin, Britain’s entry for the next Cup, with me as skipper. We have a great team of sailors, including Iain Percy, who won his second Olympic gold in the summer, and Andrew Simpson, his Star crew-mate. We came third in an America’s Cup regatta in Valencia last month and although we have just come off a disappointing Monsoon Cup in Malaysia, where we came ninth, hopes are high for 2009.

In January we have the Louis Vuitton regatta in New Zealand, at which all the leading America’s Cup challengers will be competing. It is our chance to lay down a marker. And then it is a question of waiting for a court in New York to rule in February whether the cup can go ahead. Alinghi, the defenders, and BMW Oracle, the American team, have been arguing for some time about the way the next America’s Cup should be run. This is the final stage in a long appeals process and most teams hope that Alinghi will win. That way we can continue with a multiboat series for the next cup in 2010. If they don’t, we all face another agonising wait while Oracle and Alinghi hold a private competition. It is frustrating that such a prestigious event could be decided in a courtroom, rather than on the water, but it promises to be a fascinating year ahead.