Lymington's Ben Ainslie continued to exude the Midas touch when he successfully defended his Finn European Championship title in Sweden a race early.

Held in Marstrand, a very small island 30 kilometres north of Gothenburg on Sweden's West coast, the island is famous for its fortress, yet is now more of a tourist attraction and cruising spot!

Ainslie, absolutely fired by his win, admitted: "The final day was one of the best day's sailing I've ever had.

"We had a good medium to fresh breeze and some nice big waves for surfing downwind.

"It was physically tough but I came through and won both races comfortably, which was significant in that it meant I had won the event with a race to spare."

Recounting the regatta, the double Olympian added: "After all the pre regatta training in light airs, the opening day saw the wind typically strong from the South West and this caused the waves to really pick up.

"This might not mean much but, when you're in a 14-foot dinghy, it's a bit like being in a washing machine!

"I had a cracking start in the first race and was second all the way around the course until 300 yards from the finish line, when my old mate the Belgian, Sebe Godefroid, got in my way.

"This allowed the German, Fellman, to get past into second and push me back to third.

"By the start of the second race the wind had increased making the conditions really tough. I had another great start and won the race, although I was pushed really hard by Mateus Kuszniwiericz.

"In these situations you're working so hard but the adrenalin keeps you going. At one stage I had to literally peel the fingers of my right hand open with the left as the arm was completely cramped and fatigued!

"It was a relief to find a sauna at the hotel to help ease my aching muscles."

The strong breeze died away to very light conditions on the second day.

"The rest of the race was a battle of wits, with people making huge gains by finding an extra puff of wind which no one else could catch." said Ainslie.

"I had an up-and-down race but eventually pulled through to finish fifth."

Ainslie finished third in the first race on day three but a "costly mistake" proved crucial in the second, where he finished eighth.

"I was slightly disheartened by the last race but in such tricky conditions a third and an eighth weren't bad results in the 90-boat fleet," he reflected.

It was too windy and wild on day four so racing was cancelled.

Ainslie won both races the following day, but he didn't need to compete in the second as he had sewn up the title already.