Paul Goodison hoisted the Union flag aloft triumphantly in his dinghy on the waters of Yellow Sea today as he secured Britain's third gold medal of the Olympic regatta in Qingdao. And as his elated teammates joined the 30-year-old in celebrating Team GB's 13th gold of these Olympics, the sailors were left believing that nothing can now stop them being blown to the finest performance by any British sailing team in Games' annals.

Goodison only needed to avoid finishing last in today's medal race in the laser class to claim the gold, so only one of the great calamities in Olympic history - disqualification or a monstrous choke - was likely to see him fail to join his old idol, Ben Ainslie in the finn, and Sarah Ayton, Sarah Webb and Pippa Wilson, in the yngling, as champions.

Yet there was never a hint of either eventuality as the man from Sheffield who has spent so long in the shadow of the incomparable three-times champion Ainslie emerged into the limelight himself, sailing the perfect match race to keep the only man who could steal gold from him, Sweden's Rasmus Myrgren, firmly behind.

Ultimately in light winds which prompted a safety-first approach from the Yorkshireman, Goodison was happy to finish ninth, one from last, with the dispirited Myrgren having been checkmated in 10th. And though gold wasn't achieved with the same flourish with which Ainslie destroyed the field in his medal race, the great man must have appreciated the sort of professionalism which saw Goodison to the crown.

"With conditions so tricky, this was the only one way to ensure I got gold," explained Goodison. "You come to every Olympics to do your best and I'm on top of the table. It's unbelievable."

There was no way that he was going to blow this chance after his failure to land a bronze medal by just one point in the 2004 Games in Athens.

The man who learned, in unlikely fashion, to sail on a local lake near the steel city under the guidance of his dad Roy when he was a kid felt this was a kind of redemption. This means everything to me. Just to come back from all the heartache and to prove to myself and everyone else that I can be No1," said Goodison. "At the start of the week the results were up and down and I didn't begin that well but I kept my head and came through strong in the end."

He had been pondering whether his competitive sailing days might be over after this regatta but he appeared to be having second thoughts, what with the 2012 regatta coming to Weymouth, where he is now based. "It's going to take a while to sink in but 'wow'. With London just around the corner, it's hard to think it's all over. It's a massive opportunity to represent Britain at home."

The three golds, in addition to the silver won by Nick Rogers and Joe Glanfield in the 470 class yesterday, means the team is on the verge of matching the three golds and two silvers won in 2000 and, with some serious chances of more medals to come including Nick Dempsey, currently lying second in the windsurfing, and Iain Percy and Bryony Shaw, also second in the star class, hopes are soaring for a record tally.

It is particularly satisfying for a team which, based 500 miles from Beijing, has almost inevitably had to take support billing to the heroics going on at the Laoshan Velodrome and Shunyi rowing park here in Beijing.

Yet while the Team GB cyclists have swept all before them, sailing now seems certain to end up as Britain's second most successful sport in these Games, repaying the £22.3 million of UK Sport funding - only athletics and rowing received more support - which has been pumped in since Athens where the team won five medals, including two golds. Goodison's gold means they have already reached the UK Sport target of four medals.

Not that the team, which is playing such a major part in this "Great Haul of China", feels completely isolated from what is occurring in Beijing. Ainslie and co have been watching the BBC's feed of the Games from their hotel in Qingdao and when Chris Hoy won the keirin event on Saturday, the sailors in the team room ended up jumping around in delight.

"Geographically, the team may be far away but, in spirit, they're right there in Beijing," reckoned Lindsey Bell, the team's media chief.

One man, though, has captured the headlines in Qingdao.

Ainslie, who had competed and won here in warm-up events, returned to find the local newspaper bearing the headline "The Return of the King". Now Goodison, who had made up his mind to go for Olympic gold after watching his training partner majestically sail to gold in Sydney eight years ago, is guaranteed a right royal reception himself from the locals.