Meech siblings start strongly in Palma

The name Meech was prominent after a tricky first day at the Princess Sofia Regatta in Palma overnight (NZ time).

Sam prospered in his only race, winning the blue group of the massive Laser fleet of 183 boats, and sister Molly and Alex Maloney were well placed in second in the 49erFX but a number of the 26 Kiwis competing will be hoping for more consistent breeze after day one offered up light winds and wild wind shifts in Mallorca's Bay of Palma.

It was a reflection of the day that the Lasers managed only one race - they then sat on the water for six hours in the hope more breeze would fill in - and the 49er, 49erFX and Nacra 17 fleets got in three races. With eight race courses in operation, it was often the case that one fleet was struggling in next to no breeze while classes on the opposite side of the big bay were enjoying good racing in 10 knots of wind.

"It was really light winds out there today and it was shifting pretty much 360 degrees," Sam Meech said. "For me, it was a really good race. I had an awesome start and was in contention most of the way around.

"I made it hard for myself by making a few decisions I would rather not make but I got there in the end and managed to come away with the first which was a really good start to the regatta."

Fellow Kiwi Andrew McKenzie was also handily placed in the Laser fleet after a fifth in his race but Tom Saunders will look to improve after a 30th in his race to sit 88th equal overall.

The drop has already come into play for the 49erFX fleet, which helped Maloney and Meech settle into second after three races. The Olympic silver medallists bookended a 13th with a second and first to be only one point behind the Dutch pair of Annemiek Bekkering and Annette Duetz who won in Palma last year and opened by banking two firsts and an eighth.

"It was hard racing, a real eyes-out-of-the-boat day looking for the best pressure," Meech said. "We had pretty good starts which is good because we have been working hard on them. And I think we were good at staying calm today, being patient."

It was a similar story on the Nacra 17 course. Gemma Jones and Jason Saunders were seventh overall with Liv Mackay and Micah Wilkinson 13th but they weren't far off the pace of Italy's Ruggero Tita and Caterina Banti and Olympic champions Santi Lange and Cecilia Carranzas Saroli from Argentina.

Jones and Saunders were happy to be in contention after a dramatic buildup to the regatta.

"We had a little issue three days ago when we snapped our mast in training so we had a brand new stick up that had been used only once before today," Saunders said. "We weren't really sure how it was going to go today but it wasn't really a boat-speed day at all because it was really light and shifty.

"We were pretty stoked to get two good ones and one not so good but we will move onto the next day pretty happy with how we have gone and look forward to a bit more breeze later in the week.

"I think we probably got rid of a few cobwebs today and made a few mistakes we don't usually make but we also had some good moments as well."

The Princess Sofia Trophy Regatta represents the first major European event for the majority of the New Zealand sailors competing in Palma and has attracted nearly 1200 sailors and 840 boats from more than 60 nations across 13 classes.

Paul Snow-Hansen and Dan Willcox were the only other New Zealand boat in the top 20, sitting 16th in the men's 470 after two races.

Results and standings after the first day of the Princess Sofia Trophy Regatta in Palma overnight (NZ time):

Men's 470 (79 boats)

1st: Naoki Ichino / Takashi Hasegawa (JPN) 3 1 - 4 points

2nd: Kevin Peponnet / Jeremie Mion (FRA) 5 2 - 7 pts

3rd: Luke Patience / Chris Grube (GBR) 9 3 - 12 pts

16th: Paul Snow-Hansen / Daniel Willcox (NZL) 9 12 - 21 pts

Women's 470 (48 boats)

1st: Linda Fahrni / Maja Siegentahler (SUI) 3 2 - 5 pts

2nd: Nadine Boehm / Ann-Christin Goliass (GER) 5 1 - 6 pts

3rd: Ai Kondo Yoshida / Miho Yoshioka (JPN) 2 4 - 6 pts

32nd: Courtney Reynolds-Smith / Brianna Reynolds-Smith (NZL) 15 13 - 28 pts

49er (91 boats)

1st: Jonas Warrer / Jakob Precht Jensen (DEN) 1 1 (10) - 2 pts

2nd: Dominik Buksak / Szymon Wierzbicki (POL) 2 (10) 1 - 3 pts

3rd: Lucas Rual / Emile Amoros (FRA) (11) 4 1 - 5 pts

35th: Josh Porebski / Trent Rippey (NZL) 10 8 (13) - 18 pts

52nd: Logan Dunning Beck / Oscar Gunn (NZL) (15) 13 15 - 28 pts

49erFX (54 boats)

1st: Annemiek Bekkering / Annette Duetz (NED) 1 1 (8) - 2 pts

2nd: Alex Maloney / Molly Meech (NZL) 2 (13) 1 - 3 pts

3rd: Ida Marie Baad Nielsen / Marie Thusgaard Olsen 1 2 (8) - 3 pts

Finn (73 boats)

1st: Alejajndro Muscat (ESP) 2 5 - 7 pts

2nd: Giles Scott (GBR) 6 3 - 9 pts

3rd: Facundo Olezza (ARG) 12 1 - 13 pts

28th: Andy Maloney (NZL) 16 48 - 64 pts

40th: Raymond Hall (NZL) 60 17 - 77 pts

52nd: Josh Junior 54 38 - 92 pts

59th Brendan McCarty (NZL) 63 50 - 113 pts

Laser (183 boats)

1st=: Finn Alexander (AUS) 1 - 1 pt

1st=: Sam Meech 1 - 1 pt

1st=: Lorenzo Chiavarini (GBR) 1 - 1 pt

13th=: Andrew McKenzie (NZL) 5 - 5 pts

79th=: George Gautrey (NZL) 27 - 27 pts

88th=: Tom Saunders (NZL) 30 - 30 pts

126th=: Matthew Kempkers (NZL) 43 - 43 pts

Laser Radial (113 boats)

1st=: Maud Jayet (SUI) 1 - 1 pt

1st=: Maria Erdi (HUN) 1 - 1 pt

3rd: Vasileia Karachaliou (GRE) 2 - 2 pts

23rd=: Olivia Christie (NZL) 12 - 12 pts

79th=: Susannah Pyatt (NZL) 40 - 40 pts

Nacra 17 (47 boats)

1st: Ruggero Tita / Caterina Banti (ITA) 1 1 (3) - 2 pts

2nd: Santiago Lange / Cecilia Carranza Saroli (ARG) (9) 2 1 - 3 pts

3rd: Ben Saxton / Nicola Boniface (GBR) 2 1 (3) - 3 pts

7th: Gemma Jones / Jason Saunders (NZL) 5 (14) 4 - 9 pts

13th: Liv Mackay / Micah Wilkinson (NZL) (17) 3 9 - 12 pts

Men's RS:X (118 boards)

1st=: Bing Ye (CHN) 1 - 1 pt

1st=: Yoav Cohen (ISR) 1 - 1 pt

1st=: Makoto Tomizawa (JPN) 1 - 1 pt

79th=: Antonio Cozzolino (NZL) 27 - 27 pts

- This story has been automatically published using a media release from Yachting New Zealand