WINDSURFERS Nick Dempsey and Izzy Hamilton aided the British Sailing Team’s solid opening day of World Cup racing in Weymouth and Portland, taking an early lead in the men’s and women’s RS:X events.

In the men’s windsurfing fleet, Weymouth's two-time Olympic medallist Nick Dempsey is in pole position, with his Podium Potential squad training partner Tom Squires hot on his heels on equal points in second place.

“Tom and I are quicker than the fleet. Our training’s gone really well and we’re starting to sail well. It’s nice and quite good fun racing,” said Dempsey of his opening day tussle on the racecourse with Squires.

The London 2012 silver medallist and his young apprentice shared one race win and a second place apiece, with Dempsey also scoring a second to Squires’ fifth to nudge him ahead on countback.

“It’s nice having a competitive training partner,” Dempsey admitted. “When we train we know we’re training against one of the fastest people in the world.

“You never have to compensate. If you’re beating Tom then you know you’re going fast.”

Meanwhile, Hamilton, from Holsworthy in Devon, proclaimed it to be her ‘best first day at a World Cup so far’ as two second places and a sixth saw her edge the lead by just one point over team-mate and two-time Olympian Bryony Shaw, who is based in Weymouth, at the end of the first day in the women’s windsurfing fleet.

“I would love to be able to hold on to first for the whole week,” Hamilton continued.

“It was really good racing [today] and it’s really nice to be racing at home. Weymouth is a fantastic venue and it’s really great to be back here.

“It’s so nice to be able to roll out of bed and look at the water that we are going to be sailing on for the day!”

With the RS:X European Championships coming up the week after this ISAF Sailing World Cup Weymouth and Portland, Hamilton is using this week’s competition as a springboard.

“This week is a really good training opportunity for us, because we go to our Europeans pretty much the day after the event finishes so it’s a bit of a warm-up regatta for that. Lots of goals and lots of learning points!” Hamilton concluded.

Nick Thompson was happy with his opening day’s efforts in the Laser class, where a second place and a third sit him in overall second place, two points behind New Zealand’s Andy Maloney.

For Lymington’s Thompson – a four-time World Championship medallist – a winning performance at a home World Cup is a tempting target, but he has his eyes on other prizes in the coming weeks.

“I have come so close to winning the World Cups and it would be really nice to win one on home waters,” the 28-year-old admitted.

“Having said that the World Championships are not too far away and obviously I am still working on a few some little things [for that]. To win the Worlds would mean a lot. It’s another case where I have come so close and not quite done it.

“So the Worlds are really the focus and, if selected, the Test Event. It would be nice to do well here however it’s all about Rio and the Worlds.”

“It really is a tough fleet,” said Thompson of the competition as this week’s regatta. “It’s very rare that you turn up to a Laser event and there aren’t several good guys there.

"We are missing a few, not many, but it is really nice to be back – for a lot of people it’s a bit of nostalgia from the Olympics and you can tell a lot of people are enjoying it. Weymouth’s delivering at the moment, nice sunshine and really good conditions and it’s nice to have everyone here.”

Portland-based Giles Scott was frustrated to end his second race of the day in 12th after opening his event with an emphatic race win.

The world champion fell foul of a big wind shift in the unusual north-easterly wind conditions across Weymouth Bay and Portland Harbour.

“I didn’t really have a great race and it was pretty frustrating, but it was good to come away with a win in the first one which keeps me in the mix towards the top of the leaderboard. “It would have been nice to come away with two consistent results but that didn’t happen but hopefully Thursday will be a bit better.”

Olympic silver medallists Hannah Mills and Saskia Clark did enjoy a consistent day, picking up two second places in the 470 Women’s fleet to see them end their opening day in overall second.

“We had a really good day. It was really tricky, so to come off the water with two seconds is a really solid day and we will take that any day,” Clark reflected.

“The wind was right off the cliffs,” Mills continued. “Our windward mark was right up under the cliffs. So the top of the beat was very shifty – there were people capsizing upwind just on a shift that hit their boat.”

Mills and Clark are hoping their strong start will continue this week, so they can add to their podium finishes at the Miami World Cup and the Princess Sofia Trophy earlier this year.

“This is the first big event in Weymouth since the Olympics, which is cool in itself,” said Mills.

“Every event is important but to perform on home waters is a biggie. We have come here to try and up our game and get on the top of the podium.”

Dylan Fletcher and Alain Sign sailed ‘smart and fast’ to end their opening day in overall third place in the 49er class, with John Pink and Stuart Bithell in fifth, while Luke Patience and Elliot Willis are poised fourth in the 470 Men’s event with 5,9 on their opening day’s scorecard amid the shifty conditions.

Alison Young is fourth after two races in the Laser Radial event, John Gimson and Hannah Diamond are fourth in the Nacra 17 with Lucy Macgregor and Dave Evans ninth, and Podium Potential sailors Vicky Payne-Steph Orton are 16th in the 49erFX event.

Helena Lucas and the Sonar trio of John Robertson lead their respective 2.4mR and Sonar Paralympic classes after two races apiece on day one, while Alexandra Rickham-Niki Birrell are in second, on equal points with the Italian series leaders, after two races in the SKUD.

n The ISAF Sailing World Cup Weymouth and Portland is part of UK Sport’s #EveryRoadtoRio events series, which will feature over 30 world class sports events the length and breadth of the UK, with over 900,000 tickets available to the British public to support their athletes.

Racing continues tomorrow, with the Paralympic Classes concluding on Saturday and the final 10-boat medal races for the Olympic Classes on Sunday.

For all the latest news and updates from the British Sailing Team, follow britishsailingteam.com, on Facebook or on Twitter @BritishSailing.