It wasn't a bird, or a plane, just Ben Ainslie winning again. Ainslie was forced to assure his audience that he was “just a human being” who got nervous like everyone else and ate a double helping of lasagne before he raced. But it was hard for some to believe after he had obliterated his opposition to take a third gold medal in consecutive Games - in the Laser in 2000 and the Finn in Athens fours years ago and here - to become the most successful British sailor in Olympic history.

If success is measured in medals, then only the names of Sir Steve Redgrave and Sir Matthew Pinsent will appear above his in the national record book of Olympic achievement. They are also Ainslie's “super” heroes, but how far away now is the official recognition of a man who has dominated his sport at Olympic level for almost a decade?

The Princess Royal, a member of the IOC and president of the Royal Yachting Association, was impressed enough to have the schedule of medal presentations changed last night so that she could hang around Ainslie's neck the medal that takes his tally to three golds and a silver, overtaking the two golds and silver registered by Rodney Pattisson between 1968 and 1976. Only Redgrave, with five golds, and Pinsent, with four, stand above Ainslie in the stakes of superhuman achievement in Great Britain. A call from the Palace should be expected.

Ainslie's rivals in Qingdao were anxious to play down the idea that they felt overawed by his dominant presence or that they were simply fighting for second place before they started. But Zach Railey, of the United States, who took silver, looked as though he would have gone back to Beijing to avoid a duel with Ainslie. The American was the only man in Qingdao who could halt Ainslie's progress to gold, but he got a taste of what might come on Saturday when the Briton focused entirely on Railey's Finn class craft, harrying every tack and turn before the race was abandoned because of excessively light winds.

Back to reality for golden generation

Olympic heroes will discover if the last 17 days has been a life-changing experience or a glorious but brief interlude

• Team GB to be rewarded with gold for gold

• Hard work starts now as British sailors look towards London 2012

• Public support gained from success in Beijing needs to last four years

BACKGROUND

• How the Brits became world beaters

• London double-decker arrives in Beijing

• Olympics proves capacity for greatness

• New dawn for British sport as Olympic sun sets

Multimedia

• Simon Barnes in Beijing

• Bring back the tug-of-war

• Top 100 Olympic athletes of all time

Related Links

• Ainslie makes it double gold for GB sailors

• Sunday best for Ainslie and girls

• Ben Ainslie has monumental will to win

Multimedia

• Pictures: Team GB's Great Medal Haul of China

Mild-mannered and quietly spoken on dry land, Ainslie, 31, is a mobster in a dinghy and he was prepared to go after Railey again, if need be, in yesterday's rerun. Railey opted out, instead concentrating on keeping Guillaume Florent, of France, in the bronze-medal position to leave the sport's Superman to speed across the waves as though he was low-flying to win the final race of the series and underline his mastery of the waters.

“Winning the race was fantastic,” Ainslie said. “It was the way I wanted to get gold. In some ways, this was the best gold medal because there was so much expectation coming into the event and conditions were so difficult.

“When I was a kid, my generation all looked up to Pattisson and we were in awe of what he achieved. It seems a little bit surreal to be in the position I am in now. Pinsent and Redgrave are an inspiration to people like myself and it is great when you bump into them along the road, just being in the presence of someone like Redgrave.”

Further inspiration came as Ainslie waited in the storm-swept Fushan Bay for his race to start while Team GB's women's Yngling crew won their gold. At one point, he was within hailing distance of their craft as they sped by and he waited for the call to the start line. “It was fantastic. I am so pleased for the girls,” he said. “That was a marvellous inspiration watching them.”

Ainslie's next challenge starts today. He will stay in Qingdao to try to pass on more help and advice to the 12 members of Team GB yet to contest their medal races. The team are halfway to their target of four medals from the regatta.

“We made a big thing of being a sailing unit and the Yngling girls and myself will keep our boats around the place,” Ainslie said. “We will try to come down and help the rest of the squad to bring back medals.”

Then the focus switches to the London Olympics in 2012, when Ainslie will be dreaming of adding a fourth gold to his tally in home waters. If he can achieve that, sailing's Superman really will have proved his special powers.