WEYMOUTH, England (AP) — A dip in the English Channel never felt so good.

Tom Slingsby of Australia won the Olympic sailing gold medal in the men's Laser class on Monday by match-racing his closest competitor, Pavlos Kontides of Cyprus, to the back of the fleet.

After crossing the line in ninth place in the medals race, Slingsby, a tactician with America's Cup champion Oracle Racing, capsized his boat in celebration.

As he continued to celebrate, Slingsby tipped his boat over again, righted it, climbed back in and then waved the Australian flag at a big group of supporters watching from Nothe Fort, including his parents.

The Aussie came into the medals race leading Kontides by 14 points, leaving them the only two with a chance at the gold.

Slingsby got ahead of the Cypriot at the start and kept him pinned at the back of the fleet, making sure he couldn't break free.

Kontides took the silver and Sweden's Rasmus Myrgren the bronze. The equipment inspection committee filed a protest against Myrgren just before the start.

Slingsby was unbeaten in four regattas held at Weymouth in the lead-up to the games and led this regatta from the start, winning four of the first 10 races.

He's the second America's Cup sailor to win gold in these games.

On Sunday, British star Ben Ainslie won the Finn class gold medal. Ainslie's four straight gold medals, combined with his silver from 1996, made him the most successful sailor in Olympic history.

Now it's off to their day jobs. The second season of the America's Cup World Series begins with a regatta in San Francisco from Aug. 21-26. While Slingsby returns to Oracle Racing, Ainslie will skipper Ben Ainslie Racing. Ainslie will then join Oracle Racing for the 34th America's Cup on San Francisco Bay next summer.