KEY POINTS:
Kiwi sailors Aaron McIntosh and Mark Kennedy expect their position in the top 10 at the Tornado World Championships off Takapuna to come under extreme pressure over the latter stages of the regatta.
After starting the second day in 10th place, the pair surged up to seventh on the back of some strong tactical sailing and remain on track to snare a berth at the Beijing Olympics.
McIntosh and Kennedy recorded a fifth placing in their opening race before finishing the day with a seventh in race four of the regatta.
Earlier, they had looked likely to improve their position even further having rounded the bottom mark of the final race in second position, but they slipped back to seventh following a tight finish to the race.
Nevertheless, the Kiwi pair's consistent sailing has ensured they sit ahead of several of their more-fancied rivals, including the Australian pair of Darren Bundock and Glen Ashby who are number one in the ISAF rankings.
Kennedy said their recipe for success isn't overly complicated. "It's about keeping it as simple as possible. It's pretty easy in yachting to go around in circles with testing gear all the time.
"But with the shifty conditions it's not all about speed, it's about keeping the head out of the boat and picking the windshifts."
"It's always a surprise to see the top guys struggling a bit but these conditions definitely test everyone, it's not just about boat speed," Kennedy said.
With some big names missing from the top 10 after the opening day, there was always expected to be plenty of movement on the second day.
Starting in fifth place, Yann Guichard and Alexandre Guyander of France surged in to the lead with a first and a third on day two. The Frenchmen overtook Germany's Roland Gaebler and Gunnar Struckman who are two points behind in second place.
Holland's Mitch Booth and Pim Nieuwenhuis maintained their third position, but they will be feeling the heat from the Canadian pairing of Oskar Johansson and Kevin Stittle who were the other big movers of the day. The Canadians finished third and first respectively from their two races to leap from eighth to fourth place. Of the nations yet to qualify for Beijing, only Canada sit ahead of New Zealand in the standings, with the highly-rated Austrian team of Roman Hagara and Hans Peter Steinacher, who have won gold at the past two Olympics, fighting desperately back in 15th place.
The jostling of positions is expected to continue today, with teams able to discard their worst performance after the fifth race.
McIntosh said sailing consistently will be the key to maintaining their position in the top 10 as some of the more experienced teams look to bounce back from poor starts. He said there are a number of strong teams sitting further back in the fleet that are capable of threatening their position.
"You can't win regattas on the first day, but you can definitely lose them and we're starting to establish ourselves in the top 10 so it's a little bit of a surprise, but we're just doing what we know best," the former windsurfing champion said.
Two races are scheduled today, with a rest day planned for Thursday.
* OVERALL STANDINGS AFTER DAY TWO
1 Yann Guichard/Alexandre Guyander (FRA) 17 points
2 Roland Gabler/Gunnar Struckman (GER) 19
3 Mitch Booth/Pim Nieuwenhuis (NED) 23
4 Oskar Johansson/Kevin Stittle (CAN) 26
5 Francesco Marcolini/Edward Bianchi (ITA) 33
6 Fernando Echavarri/Anton Paz (ESP) 34
7 Aaron McIntosh/Mark Kennedy (NZL) 37
8 Darren Bundock/Glen Ashby (AUS) 41
9 Billy Besson/Arnaud Jarlegan (FRA) 50
10 Xavier Revil/Cristophe Espagnon (FRA) 50
ALSO
29 Rex Sellars/Brett Sellars (NZL) 114
31 Bruce Kendall/Blair Tuke (NZL) 123
37 Nigel Williams/Jeremy Stephenson (NZL) 139
38 Dave Shaw/Susan Shaw (NZL) 145
39 Paul Francis/Aaron Duncan (NZL) 156
44 David Mead/Chris Burgess (NZL) 173
50 William Caunce/Andrew Springford (NZL) 192
