Medal hopefuls start regatta well

Jo Aleh and Olive Powrie's quest for the women's 470 gold medal at the London Olympics is on track after the first day's racing off Weymouth.

The Kiwi duo, winners of the final pre-Olympic regatta, lie second behind the British pair of Hannah Mills and Saskia Clark after starting with a second and a seventh.

The men's crew, who had been sitting second after the opening day, were relegated to 11th after being disqualified for a racing incident in Thursday's first race.

They put the disappointment behind them to record two top-five finishes and are now eighth.

Peter Burling and Blair Tuke remain on track for a medal in the 49er with a first, second and seventh helping them stay second and close the gap on Australia leaders Nathan Outteridge and Iain Jensen to nine points.

"We obviously had a good day and managed to pull it off. We had the boat going well speed-wise, did little things right and managed to put it together.

"We need to stay close to the Australians and we did that. We just need to keep doing what were doing and not get too excited," said Burling.

Elsewhere, the Star pair of Hamish Pepper and Jim Turner dropped a spot to eighth and Finn sailor Dan Slater and Andrew Murdoch in the Laser also dropped a place to both be ninth.

Laser Radial sailor Sara Winther had her two best results of the regatta with a ninth and 11th but is back in 21st overall.