Mattias Coutts and Oscar Gunn have given New Zealand its most promising start at the Olympic Classes Regatta in San Pedro, leading the Kiwi charge at the venue that will host sailing at the Los Angeles 2028 Games.
The young 49er pair opened with a second-place finish in the first qualifying race, then added a seventh before a discarded 26th left them seventh overall after day one.
It continues a run of strong form. The duo finished fourth at Kiel Week before placing fifth at the 49er European Championships in Germany just two weeks later.
Fellow Kiwi crew Francesco Kayrouz and Hamish McLaren are also well placed, sitting 14th after posting a 10th, 11th and a discarded 22nd across the opening three races.
The day was tougher for world and European champions Seb Menzies and George Lee Rush, who sit 20th after finishes of 17th, 14th and 20th. The Auckland duo arrived in California having successfully defended their European title in Germany, only months after capturing their maiden world championship crown in France.
Conditions outside the Los Angeles Harbour breakwater were testing, with winds building into the mid-to-high teens through the afternoon and ocean swell adding to the difficulty.
In the Nacra 17, Micah Wilkinson and Kate Stewart are ninth overall after opening with a 10th, 17th and eighth. Germany's Richard Schultheis and Fabian Rieger lead the 49er standings, while France's Alouïse Retornaz and Tim Mourniac head the mixed multihull fleet.
Three more qualifying races are scheduled in each class today. The fleets race together through the opening five days before the top 10 crews in each class advance to the medal series.
