Tauranga sailors Sam Meech and Tom Saunders are both well placed in the top 10 at the Laser world championships in Croatia.
Meech continued his good form, collecting three second-placed finishes in the strong winds to sit in fourth, only two points behind Cypriot Pavlos Kontides, and he was joined in the top 10 by Saunders, who is seventh after banking a second, fourth and third in his three races.
Fellow Kiwi Andrew McKenzie thought he had moved up considerably into 17th after three solid races only to be slapped with a disqualification after a protest. It meant the 46th he scored in the opening race of the regatta needed to count - all sailors discard their worst score in qualifying - and he slipped well down the leaderboard.
Meech and Saunders comfortably qualified for gold fleet, the top third of the field of 147 sailors, although it was not always comfortable on the race track off the coast of Split.
Winds of 20 to 25 knots battered the sailors overnight and many were showing the after-effects of a hard day on the water.