Men's 470 revel in strong winds at Oceanbridge NZL Sailing Regatta

For Paul Snow-Hansen and Dan Willcox it was perfect conditions today at the Oceanbridge NZL Sailing Regatta at Murrays Bay. For others, it was pretty chaotic.

The mast of one boat snapped, others were damaged and many boats struggled to get ashore as winds up to 30 knots lashed Aucklands North Shore.

It meant that only one race was possible in some fleets and two in others and the three-day regatta will go into catch-up mode tomorrow.

Snow-Hansen and Willcox revelled in the strong winds to record two wins in the mens 470 fleet. They started the first race poorly, rounding the top mark in last, but clawed their way back on the downwind leg. They then dominated the second race to win comfortably.

"It was awesome," said Willcox, who last weekend finished fifth with Snow-Hansen in the World Cup regatta in Miami. "You cant ask for better conditions in the 470 - 15-20 knots and onshore with big waves - so it was awesome fun.

"Today was a great day to shake off the jetlag. It looks like we have a bit lighter tomorrow but still onshore with waves so its really about having fun and encouraging a lot of the younger guys in the 470."

One of those is 17-year-old twins Courtney and Brianna Reynolds-Smith who last year won the womens under-20 world title and are being coached this weekend by two-time Olympic medallist Jo Aleh. The pair were second and third in today's races to sit second overall against a handful of internationals and first female crew.

The scene was a lot more sedate in the morning and many wondered if racing would get underway at all as light winds meant a lengthy delay.

The wind arrived with heavy rain and continued to rise as the afternoon wore on.

Only one race was possible for the Laser fleet, with Tom Saunders winning ahead of fellow NZL Sailing Team member and Rio bronze medallist Sam Meech.

"Today the conditions were pretty extreme," Saunders said. "Big waves, big winds on the upper limits. We managed to get one race away which I won. Its nice to get one of the board early but theres still a lot of racing to go. Hopefully it sets me up for the rest of the weekend.

"Hopefully I get a good sleep tonight because I think its going to be a big day tomorrow. We could end up doing four races."

The NZL Sailing Team members stood out today, with Josh Junior leading in the Finn, Gemma Jones and Jason Saunders and Liv Mackay and Micah Wilkinson the top two crews in the Nacra and Alex Maloney and Molly Meech winning both races in the 49erFX.

The Oceanbridge NZL Sailing Regatta is New Zealands premier event for Olympic and youth classes and has attracted close to 200 sailors, including about 90 from overseas.

Results and standings from the first day of the Oceanbridge NZL Sailing Regatta at Murrays Bays today:

Laser

1st: Thomas Saunders (NZL) 1 - 1 pts

2nd: Sam Meech (NZL) 2 - 2 pts

3rd: George Gautry (NZL) 3 - 3 pts

Laser Radial

1st: Susannah Pyatt (NZL) 1 2 - 3 pts

2nd: Josh Armit (NZL) 3 1 - 4 pts

3rd: Scott Leith (NZL) 2 3 - 5 pts

Finn

1st: Josh Junior (NZL) 1 - 1 pt

2nd: Andy Maloney (NZL) 2 - 2 pts

3rd: Nicholas Heiner (NED) 3 - 3 pts

Men's 470

1st: Paul Snow-Hansen / Dan Willcox (NZL) 1 1 - 2 pts

2nd: Kidong Park / Sangmin Shin (KOR) 5 4 - 9 pts

3rd: Gunwoo Park / Sungmin Cho (KOR) OCS9 2 - 11 pts

Women's 470

1st: Courtney Reynolds-Smith / Brianna Reynolds-Smith (NZL) 2 3 - 5 pts

49er

1st: David Gilmour / Joel Turner (AUS) 1 - 1 pts

2nd: William Phillips / Sam Phillips (AUS) 2 - 2 pts

3rd: Josh Porebski / Trent Rippey (NZL) 3 - 3 pts

49erFX

1st: Alex Maloney / Molly Meech (NZL) 1 - 1 pt

2nd: Amelia Stabback / Ella Clark (AUS) 2 - 2 pts

3rd: Helene Naess / Marie Ronningen (NOR) 5 - pts

Nacra 17

1st: Gemma Jones / Jason Saunders (NZL) 1 1 - 2 pts

2nd: Liv MacKay / Micah Wilkinson (NZL) 2 2 - 4 pts

3rd: Lin Ea Christiansen / Christian Stephenson (DEN) 3 3 - 6 pts

RS:X 9.5

1st: Antonio Cozzolino (NZL) 1 - 1 pt

2nd: Lee Hyeong Min (KOR) 2 - 2 pts

3rd: Moon Changsung (KOR) 3 - 3 pts

RS:X 8.5

1st: Max Van der Zalm (NZL) 1 - 1 pt

2nd: Lloyd Perratt (NZL) 2 - 2 pts

3rd Veerle ten Have (NZL) 3 - 3 pts

Boy's 420

1st: James Barnett / Sam Street (NZL) 1 1 - 2 pts

2nd: Kim Yonghyeon / Han Cheolkyu (KOR) 4 3 - 7 pts

3rd: David Buchanan / Ben Baynes (NZL) 5 5 - 10 pts

Girl's 420

1st: Cara Higginbottom / Alice Floyd (NZL) 3 2 - 5 pts

2nd: Ruby Baynes / Annabel Limbrick (NZL) 7 DNC14 - 21 pts

3rd: Sofia Higgott / Lizzie Shapland (NZL) 9 DNC14 - 23 pts

29er

1st: Francesco Kayrouz / Jackson Keon (NZL) 3 1 - 4 pts

2nd: Sebastian Lardies / Scott McKenzie (NZL) 1 3 - 4 pts

3rd: Henry Wilson / Sam Morgan (NZL) 4 2 - 6 pts

Nacra 15

1st: Greta Stewart / Tom Fyfe (NZL) 1 - 1 pt

2nd Jake Lidell / Josh Berry (AUS) 2 - 2 pts

3rd: Rebecca Morgan / Hamish McLaren (NZL) 3 - 3 pts

Full results can be found here

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