Australian sailors made a solid start to the official Olympic test event in England, with key medal hopes continuing strong form on the 2012 Games course at Weymouth and Portland.

The Forty-niner class duo Nathan Outteridge and Iain Jensen haven't lost at the venue in three years and sit second overall after their first races at the Weymouth and Portland International Regatta on Saturday.

Two wins and a ninth place left them one point behind the Germans.

"To be honest, it was a bit of a shock for us to do so well on the first day here," Outteridge said.

"Obviously, we're very happy with the results, as we tried to keep away from the big pack and ended up sailing our own race and getting some nice shifts to find our way to the front in the first two races."

Tom Slingsby enjoyed a decent start in the men's laser and sits second in the fleet, six points behind New Zealander Andrew Murdoch, after four races.

Slingsby has won all three regattas he's competed in at Weymouth and Portland.

Mathew Belcher and Malcolm Page, the men's 470 class crew, were less successful, with tenth and eleventh place finishes in their first races on Friday.

A second place on Saturday helped the pair up to fourth overall.

"We found more of a groove today and settled down after the opening day," Belcher said.

"We were offshore today (Saturday) and the conditions were more difficult and it became more about strategy than (on Friday) in the harbour."

Krystal Weir is fourth in the laser radial fleet after the first four test regatta races.

Meanwhile, the women's match racing team lost a quarter-final battle against the Russians and will compete in the fifth to eighth place sail-off on Monday.

Belcher and Page, Outteridge and Jensen and Slingsby are all intent on winning gold medals at the 2012 Olympics.

The Olympic test event began on August 2 and ends on August 13.

It's a key chance for the host nation to test the Weymouth and Portland course, but also an opportunity for the athletes to experience the conditions likely to prevail at the Olympics.

The Australian sailing team has targeted five medals from the Games.

AAP