The Team GB Yngling crew of Sarah Ayton, Sarah Webb and Pippa Wilson collected Britainâ??s first sailing gold medal of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.

It was the second Olympics Games in a row in which Team GB have won the class – both Ayton and Webb were members of the crew that struck gold in Athens four years ago.

Ayton and Webb now join their helm of four years ago, Shirley Robertson, in becoming the only British women sailors to win back-to-back Olympic golds.

The British crew dominated the eight-race series leading into todayâ??s (Sunday) final in Qingdao �” they were never out of the top two overall rankings throughout the series.

Leading the Netherlands crew of Mandy Mulder, Annemieke Bes and Merel Witteveen by just one point going into the double points final, the Team GB Yngling crew were keen to stay ahead of the Dutch.

And in a thrilling battle for the biggest prize of them all, Ayton’s double World champion crew made no mistakes under the most intense pressure to sprint to a sensational medal race victory, to the Dutch team’s fifth to secure the women’s keelboat gold 24 points to 33 overall.

Speaking after the race Webb said: “I’m lost for words, it is such a relief. Our experience was everything, we stayed sure and we got better.”

Ayton said: “It’s been brilliant, this campaign has been about pure perfection and we’re just an awesome team.â?

Wilson added: “This has been the dream and it hasn’t really sunk in.”

The Yngling success takes Team GBâ??s medal tally in Beijing to eight gold medals, three silvers and seven bronzes.