When British crew Iain Percy and Andrew Simpson of Star class brought home the final gold of Beijing Olympic Sailing Regatta, they not only snatched the fourth gold for their country, but also made Britain three-time in a row as top Olympic sailing nation.

The success also left British sailors with their best Olympic medal haul for 100 years, as it tied the record set at the London 1908 Olympic Games, when they also recorded four golds, one silver and one bronze.

This is just one of the historic moments that Qingdao Olympic Sailing Center has witnessed in the past 13 days, when 400 sailors from 62 countries and regions competed in 11 events of nine classes.

Briton Ben Ainslie accomplished his hat-trick gold mission by claiming 2008 Olympic Finn crown to be the third sailor in Olympic history for that title.

Australian crew Elise Rechichi and Tessa Parkinson completed double golds in the 470 fleets with their teammates Nathan Wilmot and Malcolm Page.

Denmark pair Jonas Warrer and Martin Ibsen were confirmed winner of 49er gold position after 19 hours of waiting on a protest decision.

The most historic moment, however, belonged to the host nation.

For the first time, China won the Olympic sailing gold, thanks to windsurfer Yin Jian's thrilling performance in RS:X Women.

China has already won two Olympic silver medals in windsurfing, with Zhang Xiaodong in Barcelona in 1992 and Yin Jian in Athens in 2004, but never gold.

It is also the first time that the host nation has been crowned in windsurfing on the home waters.

Amid the screaming and flag waving of thousands of Chinese spectators, Yin, standing on the top of the podium and wrapped up with the national flag, couldn't stop her tears falling.

At the 2004 Athens Olympics, a small collision with another competitor in the 10th round relegated Yin to a silver medal finish, just two agonizing points shy of a gold medal.

"For an old athlete competing in the Olympics was hard," she said. "I've had many injuries in the past four years. I was able to persevere until now because I wanted to make China proud in the Olympic Games that China is hosting."

Her teammate Xu Lijia also made history for China, winning the country's first Laser Radial bronze, which is the class that usually Europeans excel.

These breakthroughs highlighted the improvement of overall level of Chinese sailing, and will be recorded into the history forever, said Chinese sailing team captain Yao Xinpei.

China is not the only country that has made breakthrough on Olympic sailing podium. Gintare Volungeviciute became the first Lithuanian to ever win a medal in sailing at the Olympic Games by clinching the silver in Laser Radial.

Fushan bay of Qingdao Olympic Sailing Center also witnessed veteran sailors reap the fruits after years of hard training as well as rising stars set sail for their dreams.

Alessandra Sensini from Italy took the silver medal of RS:X Women, which is the only colour missing from this remarkable 38-year-old woman's collection of gold from the Sydney 2000 and bronze from Atlanta 1996 and Athens 2004.

"I've been doing this for 25 years. This is my fifth Olympics. All these years, I've told myself to stop. I dropped sailing for one and half of a year after Athens, but I think I just love it and will continue to do it," she said.

The 46-year-old Santiago Lange from Argentina won the bronze of Tornado in his fifth Olympics after Seoul 1988, Atlanta 1996, Sydney 2000, and Athens 2004. His Tornado partner Carlos Espinola also gained his third medal of bronze after silver in Atlanta and bronze in Athens.

Almost half of Lange's age, Anna Tunnicliffe from the United States, 25, won the Laser Radial gold in her first Olympic sailing.

"This is phenomenal. It's absolutely unbelievable. I've been wanting this for many years. It is a dream come true," she said.

Off the water on the shore, thousands of audience also realized their dreams to watch the Olympic sailing in such a close distance with a clear visibility, thanks to the audience breakwater, the first ever innovation in Olympic sailing history.

After watching two medal races at the Qingdao Olympic Sailing Center and then attending awards ceremonies, Jacques Rogge, president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), also a former Olympic sailor, was moved by what Qingdao has presented to the world.

"What you have achieved is outstanding," he said.

Xia Gen, Mayor of Qingdao and also president of the Olympic Sailing Commitee (Qingdao) of BOCOG, said the combined efforts from government and citizens managed to solve all the difficulties that they were confronted during the preparation for the Olympic Sailing Regatta.

"We have fulfilled the promise made to the rest of the world and we have realized the dream of our nation," he said.

(Xinhua News Agency August 22, 2008)