Boardsailing: McIntosh firing at Olympic trials

Aaron McIntosh has opened up a significant gap over Jon Paul Tobin in the Mistral boardsailing class at the Olympic yachting trials at Eastern Beach in Auckland.

In the first race yesterday, Tobin led at the first downwind mark but was overtaken on the second lap by McIntosh, who went on to win.

He led the second race from start to finish, winning by almost an entire leg.

It was a significant result for McIntosh, earning him valuable breathing space for the final three races. There are now four points between him and Tobin.

"I've managed to step out today," McIntosh said. "This is what I wanted to achieve."

He would not take any risks in the remaining races.

"It's not over until it's over and I have to sail some nice, solid races to finish. I'll be sailing sensibly."

Chris Dickson and Glen Sowry have opened a handy lead in the Tornado class, winning both races yesterday.

They are on nine points, four ahead of Simon Manning and Andy Robertson.

Sarah Macky maintained her lead over top seed Abby Mason in the Europe class, winning the only race yesterday. Sharon Ferris finished fourth, effectively putting her out of Olympic contention.

In the women's 470 class, Melinda Henshaw and Jenny Egnot won both races to grab a comfortable 15-point lead, while in the men's fleet, Simon Cooke and Peter Nicholas lead on countback from Nick Taylor and Reece Brailey.

Clifton Webb scored his first win of the regatta in the Finns, which is led overall by Stuart Ballantyne, with Ian Baker second.