Kiwi sailors Peter Burling and Blair Tuke have established a comfortable lead in the 49er fleet after two days of racing at the ISAF Sailing World Cup in Hyeres, France.
The two-time world champions opened up a 21-point lead at the top of the leaderboard after a near-perfect day onthe water, recording two wins and a second place on day two of the five-day regatta. Their New Zealand team mates, Marcus Hansen and Josh Porebski, did not have such a smooth day on the water, slipping to 18th after finishing well down the fleet in all three of their races.
In the women's 49erFX Alexandra Maloney and Molly Meech improved their overall position, climbing to seventh, although the pair were still disappointed with their level of consistency having recorded a 14th, fourth and ninth placing on day two.
"After a slow start we connected a few more pieces of the puzzle on day two. We are determined to make each race more complete in the coming few days," said Maloney.
The women's 470 pairing of Jo Aleh and Polly Powrie also made strong progress on day two. Lying in 11th place after the first day, the Kiwi pair climbed into third with two solid single-digit race results overnight - a sixth and a fifth. Aleh and Powrie are well in touch with the leaders, sharing the same number of points as the two teams ranked above them - Great Britain's Hannah Mills and Saskia Clark, and Anne Haeger and Briana Provancha of the US. The Brazilian and Slovenian crews in fourth and fifth aren't far adrift and the scene is set for another exciting battle leading up to Sunday's medal race.
Paul Snow-Hansen and Daniel Willcox are lying 10th in the men's 470 class.
Changing fortunes on the Finn course overnight saw Andrew Murdoch slip to 13th after a costly DNF in the first race. In contrast, Josh Junior had a better day and climbed up the ranks to 17th overall after placing seventh and 10th.
New Zealand's Laser sailors are struggling for consistency with only Andy Maloney remaining in the top 10 of the 40-boat fleet. He is in 10th, Sam Meech 13th, Mike Bullot 21st and Thomas Saunders 25th at the end of day two. Sara Winther is lying 24th in the Laser Radial.
In the Nacra 17 Gemma Jones and Jason Saunders are 16th overall in the mixed multihull, while in the women's RS:X Natalia Kosinska has moved from 21st up to lie 17th at the end of day two, finishing the day on a high note with a third place.
Racing continues in Hyeres tomorrow before the top 10 medal races scheduled for Sunday.
