Ainslie made his Olympic debut in 1996, aged just 19, and left Atlanta with a pair of silver medals, before striking gold in the Laser class in Sydney four years later.

Since then, the 27-year-old has switched disciplines and will be competing in the more demanding Finn class, for which he has had to bulk up and put on around 15 kilograms.

Despite still being too light compared to many of his rivals, Ainslie won the world title for three consecutive years, triumphed in the pre-Olympics regatta and is considered amongst the team as close to being a certainty for gold as you might find at these Games.

“I’d say he has got all the makings of a great Olympian,” said Glanfield.

“He came out of school and went to Atlanta in 1996 and since then has given his life to the sport. The dedication and commitment he has shown is an inspiration to us all.

Glanfield’s crew-mate Rogers, who has been sailing with Ainslie since they were boys, said: “Ben is very much an inspiration.

“The work he has put in is incredible. He has probably got a lot more Olympics in him and it could be down to him as to how many medals he could get in the future.”

Ainslie’s commitment mirrors closely that of Redgrave. He relished the idea of a new challenge so switched to the Finn.

“I felt I had achieved everything I set out to in the Laser. The Finn was the perfect boat to move to,” said Ainslie.

“It is a much bigger boat and so takes a much bigger guy to sail. The other aspect is the technicalities of the boat.

“Finn is a technical class where you develop your own mast and equipment, so that is a way of understanding the more technical design side of sailing which is important when you move into the big events like the America’s Cup.”

Ainslie’s ambitions are boundless. He is contracted with Team New Zealand up until August 2007 for the America’s Cup and is already considering how he will switch back to the Olympic classes in time for Beijing 2008.

It is just this kind of energy and excitement that underpinned Redgrave’s drive towards his famous fifth gold medal in the Sydney four years ago.

In many ways, Ainslie has done for sailing what Redgrave did for rowing.

“More people are paying attention to results in sailing after the last Olympics and we saw that at the last World Championships,” he said.

“It is good for sailing as a sport. Also, people like Ellen McArthur are doing fantastic things in offshore sailing and I think people really do realise it is a sport.

“Since the results in Sydney, and the offshore sailing, almost every time you open the paper there is something about sailing. That never used to be the case and it is certainly good for the sport.”