Impressive start in regatta sees Clark taking aim at laser target

Penny Clark enjoyed a solid start in the Laser Radial class at the Olympic sailing regatta today, taking second place in the opening race.

The 33-year-old Royal Navy officer was only eighth at the second mark but came back to finish runner-up, 33 seconds behind Belgium's Evi Van Acker.

Clark, a bronze medallist at the Olympic test event in Qingdao two years ago, was seven seconds ahead of third-placed Gintare Volungeviciute of Lithuania.

However, Paul Goodison made a poor start in the men's Laser class, finishing 15th in race one.

The 30-year-old, who was fourth in Athens and won the Olympic test event last year, was unable to get out of the fleet and finished over three-and-a-half minutes behind race winner Julio Asogaray of Argentina.

The Argentinian finished 40 seconds ahead of Andrew Murdoch, of New Zealand, with Chile's Matias Del Solar finishing third.

Christina Bassadone and Saskia Clark began the day in 15th place in the women's 470 after a protest by Slovenia was upheld by the jury, resulting in a disqualification for the British team for race one.