Andrew McKenzie was the best placed of the Kiwis after the first day of racing at the World Cup regatta in Hyeres overnight (NZ time) but many of the New Zealand contingent were looking forward to forecast strong winds to arrive.
The 21-year-old McKenzie, who finished sixth in last year's World Cup final in Melbourne and is a member of the Aon Fast Track squad, was ninth after two races in the Laser class. Rio Olympics bronze medallist Sam Meech was a further two places back in 11th, posting a sixth in the second race of the day.
The Hyeres regatta is the first for Meech back in the Laser since the Rio Games and following knee surgery.
"I sailed alright," Meech said. "I started out well in both races but then didn't really execute the first beats quite how I would have liked which meant I rounded in some pretty average positions at the top mark.
"In the first race I wasn't able to come back but in the second I managed to go the right way and made some big gains, which was nice and saved the day. It was not the ideal way to start the regatta but if I keep knocking out reasonable races from here on in hopefully I can still achieve a reasonable result."
