Tauranga Harbour wasn't the happiest hunting ground for Jason Saunders whenever Paul Snow-Hansen was lurking.
Seven years ago Saunders and Snow-Hansen locked horns on the harbour enroute to Snow-Hansen becoming the first yachtie in New Zealand to claim junior sailing's triple crown of the three major titles in the same season - the P-class Tanner and Tauranga Cups and Optimist nationals.
But this weekend they are in it together when Tauranga hosts the eight-race 470 nationals.
The pair, both 21, finished eighth at last year's world championships off Perth, qualifying for the London Olympics and earmarking themselves as potential medallists. Briton Nick Rogers took out the nationals in 2011 but Saunders, from Tauranga, said he and Snow-Hansen were motivated to perform well before their Olympic buildup ramps up,
Saunders and Snow-Hansen will face stiff competition from New Zealand's top sailors, including from women's 470 Olympic representatives Jo Aleh and Olivia Powrie.
"I haven't had the opportunity to sail back at home much in the last couple of years so it'll be great to be back on the harbour with all the best 470 guys down here as well," Saunders said.
He was back last month but the only time he ventured near the harbour was for a Bay Times photo shoot as he recharged after a busy 2011.
"Physically I wasn't too bad after the worlds but mentally I definitely needed to come home and unwind. It was a massive year for Paul and I so January was a good month to rest up."
Saunders and Snow-Hansen were in position to win halfway through the world champs but slipped down the field at the pointy end of the congested competition. Saunders pinpointed a lack of top-end speed and race experience as the main drawback. They race with flair but make mistakes and it's this area they are concentrating on.
"The 470 is one of the most technical of all the Olympic classes and we came home from Perth stoked to have qualified for London but also with plenty of adjustments to make the more we learn," Saunders said. "We've got three trips to Europe and six or seven regattas to sail in because race experience is a big area to work on, and our consistency wasn't quite there.
"Massive comebacks were a strength in Perth but we need to start putting ourselves in position at the first mark rather than having to fight our way up through the fleet."
Helmsman Snow-Hansen was the silver medallist at the 2004 Optimist world championships and 2007 youth world champs, while Saunders finished fifth at the 2006 youth worlds in the 420 class and eighth at the 2008 laser radial world champs. He was tiring of campaigning a Laser when Snow-Hansen came knocking almost four years ago.
"It was a spur of the moment [partnership]. Paul's approach came at the right time because I was getting less comfortable in a Laser and wasn't the right weight or size. Optimal is 80-82kg but I was skinny and light and struggling to put on weight, quickly realising it wasn't really my boat."
Now it's the opposite problem, with 1.93m-tall Saunders having to manage his weight, although that's nicely counterbalanced by the 62kg Snow-Hansen.
It's a long way from Kulim Park and Richard Burling's lessons 14 years ago (Burling's son Peter sailed a 470 at the Beijing Olympics and will be in a 49er skiff in London). As tempting as it is for the 470 combo to use this Olympic as a taster for Rio, it's not the goal.
"We're not working hard to go to London and make up the numbers. We got a solid result at the worlds and improved, but there's still plenty to work on, and if everything goes our way a medal is possible."