Windsurfer Bryony Shaw flew the flag for Britain on the opening day of the Sail for Gold Regatta at the Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy yesterday.

Nearly 200 sailors from 22 nations are contesting the third stage of the EUROSAF Champions Sailing Cup, although not all of them were able to complete a full programme yesterday with light, shifting winds a problem.

Shaw, who finished seventh at last summer's Olympic Games, was one of those to enjoy the best of the day as she took three race wins in the RS:X 8.5 fleet.

In the RS:X 9.5 event, Olympic silver medallist Nick Dempsey started his regatta with a failure to finish followed by two wins. Dempsey's GB team-mate Elliot Carney leads after today's three races after finishing first, third and second.

In the men's two-person skiff, 49er pair John Pink and Simon Wheeler lead after a win and a second place, while London 2012 silver medallist Stuart Bithell is in third place alongside team-mate Chris Grube.

Charlotte Dobson and Nicola Groves posted two firsts and fifth in the women's 49erFX class.

In the mixed-multihull Nacra 17 class, Olympian Lucy Macgregor and her crewmate Tom Phipps posted two wins and a fourth to open up a four-point lead over Rupert White and Niki Boniface.

The Laser and Laser Radials were the two classes to fall short today with only once race being completed on Course Area E.

In the Radial it was the Chinese who made their mark with Dongshuang Zhang fending off 2012 Olympic Champion Lijia Xu to take the only race win of the day. Chloe Martin of Britain finished third.

New Zealand's Sam Meech finished top of the Laser pack. Nick Thompson of Britain was third.

In the heavyweight Finn class, Britain's Mark Andrews posted a first and third to top the leaderboard ahead of compatriot Andrew Mills.

In the Paralympic classes, former Southampton resident Helena Lucas and Megan Pascoe occupy first and second in the 2.4mR class, while Niki Birrell, Tom Peel and Richard Mason lead the way in the Sonar event after two firsts and a second.