HAMPSHIRE sailor Alain Sign and Dylan Fletcher are looking for the opportunities as they bid to build on the opening day of their Rio 2016 regatta.

Games debutants Fletcher and Sign had to use all their experience to recover through the fleet after poor start in race one to cross the line in 15th, after a long delay both ashore and on the water waiting for the breeze to build in Guanabara Bay.

After another shorter postponement as the wind dropped, their fortunes improved in race two as they secured their first top 10 finish of the event, again coming back after an iffy first beat.

With only two of their three scheduled races completed yesterday, the 49ers will now try to get four races in the bag today, and Fletcher and Sign are looking ahead.

Sign, from Portsmouth, said: “It’s definitely something to build on. We’ve got a few opportunities we know we need to work on the rest of the week so we will have a little think and then come out tomorrow and hopefully keep moving forwards.

“It felt a bit like 49er gold fleet racing, which you get at any major championship. Everyone is on their game and you’re racing against the top 20 in the world effectively. It’s really exciting to get out there on the water. There were a probably a few nerves around today and but at the end of the day it’s just a 49er race.”

Dylan added: “It’s exciting to finally start off our Olympics. It wasn’t the ideal start we wanted but we will be looking to build up on that this week and take each race as it comes. Rio is a tricky venue and we are looking forward to the challenge.”

Four time World Champions Peter Burling and Blair Tuke (NZL) got their event off to the perfect start with two bullets, with Jorge Lima and Jose Costa (POR) in second and Erik Heil and Thom Ploessel (GER) in third.

The 49er class is scheduled to contest a 13 race series, with three races per day on 12, 13, 15 and 16 August before the final one off medal race on Thursday 18 August.