Sailing: Inconsistent breezes prove tricky for Kiwi crews in Rio

New Zealanders Alexandra Maloney and Molly Meech lie in second place in the women's 49erFX Class in the Aquece Rio international regatta. Photo / Getty Images

The 2016 Olympic venue is proving tricky for the New Zealand sailors over the opening days of the Aquece Rio international regatta.

The regatta, which doubles as an Olympic test event for the 2016 Games in Rio, has thrown up mixed conditions over the opening days of competition. After a lack of wind in Guanabara Bay prevented any racing on day one, yesterday the 10 fleets taking part battled shifty conditions.

The 49erFX pairing of Alexandra Maloney and Molly Meech coped best with the inconsistent breeze, opening the regatta with two wins, before the reigning world champions followed it up with a seventh and fourth to end the day in second place in the women's skiff class.

Jo Aleh and Polly Powrie also made a strong start to the regatta, collecting a seventh and two second places in their three races in the women's 470.

The world and Olympic champions described the 17-boat fleet as "small but high-quality", noting it was quite different from the 50-plus-strong fleets more typical in international racing.

Aleh said the race course for the women's 470 fleet was set about a 45-minute tow off Copacabana beach, providing the extra challenge of dealing with bigger swells.

The world champion 49er pairing of Peter Burling and Blair Tuke lie in fourth after recording a ninth, two seconds and 14th placings in their first four races. Marcus Hansen and Josh Porebski are in ninth, 12 points behind the number one Kiwi pair.

Racing resumed in the Finn class with both Josh Junior and Andrew Murdoch lifting their overall position on the leaderboard to seventh and eighth respectively and sharing equal points. Junior sailed away with a win in the last race of the day.

The Nacra multihull fleet sailed three races to kick off the series. New Zealand's Gemma Jones and Jason Saunders made a solid start with a third place in their opener, then a fifth and a sixth to be one point off third overall.

In the men's 470 Paul Snow-Hansen and Daniel Willcox are in 10th while women's windsurfer Natalia Kosinska is eighth.

Laser sailors Sam Meech and Andy Maloney are lying eighth and 13th.