Sailing: Scotland�s Charlotte Dobson was left picking the positives from a difficult opening day for her at the 2007 Qingdao International Regatta, which is being sailed on the racing areas for next year�s Olympic regatta.

Scotland's Charlotte Dobson was left picking the positives from a difficult opening day for her at the 2007 Qingdao International Regatta, which is being sailed on the racing areas for next year's Olympic regatta.

After her tenth place in the world championships in Cascais, Portugal, last month, Dobson was left to regret two mistakes which lead to her 24th and 16th places in the 30-strong Laser Radial women's fleet yesterday.

Conditions were exceptional, even for the notorious Fushan Bay. A combination of big, random seas - out of proportion to the light and unsettled breeze - made for a physically demanding pair of opening races.

In the second race, Dobson had to make a penalty turn for an infringement which she felt she was encouraged into. She asked to cross the path on an opponent and got a clear signal to do so, but that was rescinded and a foul called.

"There was nothing I could do. She clearly was letting me cross when I asked but then seemed to change her mind and yelled protest'. There was another girl near who could not believe it, either, but what can you do?"

In the first race, the Rhu helm was comfortably inside the top six early in the race but then got on the wrong side of a big windshift. With big, thunderclouds causing such large changes in wind direction the men's Laser fleet were held from racing until the breeze settled.

"It's a frustrating way to start but, on the other hand, there were few girls who really put together a pair of discards, However, it's disappointing to start with what you would hope to discard," Dobson added.

British sailors or crews lead in four classes after this first full day's racing. Ben Ainslie posted a first and a second to lead the Finn class, despite not having raced his Olympic heavyweight single-hander since he won here last year, while Yngling world champions Sarah Ayton, Sarah Webb and Pippa Wilson won their second race and finished second behind the USA's world No.1 Sally Barkow and crew, giving the British trio a one-point lead, while Nick Rogers and Joe Glan-field lead the 470 class by virtue of a fourth and a sixth.