KEY POINTS:
The race for the women's title at the RS:X World Championships in Takapuna is shaping up to be a battle between two of the legends in boardsailing.
After two days of racing, New Zealand's Barbara Kendall is locked in first place in the overall standings with long-time rival Alessandra Sensini of Italy.
With two wins on the opening day of racing, Sensini was the outright leader heading in to the second day, with Kendall in a share of second with Charline Piccon of France.
But Kendall was able to make up the one-point difference on Sensini yesterday after the Italian struggled to fifth in her opening race, while the Kiwi veteran was fourth in her fleet.
Both won their second races of the day to top the leaderboard heading in to the third day of racing.
Sensini said she struggled in the first part of her opening race after getting weed caught on the finn of her board. The 37-year-old was forced to tack to remove the weed and lost a lot of ground, but she said she was pleased with the way she recovered.
"It's good because I managed to have two good results today as well. The first race we had the really light wind and I had a few problems in the first half of the race so I had to catch up a lot of positions."
Though Kendall is shaping up to be Sensini's main rival for the world crown, the Italian believes there are several other threats.
"Barbara, for sure, is very dangerous. But there are many others like the French, Spanish, English and Chinese. I think it is still very close and there are a number of competitors that can win."
New Zealand's Tom Ashley rocketed in to the outright lead in the men's field with wins in both races yesterday. With stellar sailing conditions of around 12-15 knots later in the afternoon, Ashley dominated the field - his second win was by an incredible one and a half minutes.
The Kiwi is three points clear of Spain's Ivan Pastor Lafuente in second, with Piotr Myszka of Poland in third place on 11 points.
After a strong start to the regatta, New Zealand's Jon-Paul Tobin dropped off the pace - slipping back to 14th overall following a disappointing 22nd placing in his second race.
Tobin had a couple of problems with his board yesterday but having been in a share of fourth after the opening day he is confident he can bounce back in today's races.
"I hung in there for an eighth in the first race but I didn't have such a good one in the second but there's still plenty of runway left."
Tobin said he is still eyeing a top 10 placing at the championships.
"I'd love to slot in to the top 10 for a home regatta. A top 10 can mean you're in striking distance to the front.
"I don't get to go to the Olympics this time around so it would be a nice way to finish off."
A further two races in the men's and women's fleets are scheduled off Takapuna today. After race five there will be a discard, meaning competitors' worst result will be dropped from their overall total.
STANDINGS
MEN
1 Tom Ashley (New Zealand) 6pts
2 Ivan Pastor Lafuente (Spain) 9
3 Piotr Myszka (Poland) 11
4 Nicholas Le Gal (France) 22
5 Przemyslaw Miarczynski (Poland) 23
WOMEN
1= Alessandra Sensini (Italy) 8
1= Barbara Kendall (New Zealand) 8
3 Charline Piccon (France) 12
4= Faustine Merret (France) 13
4= Blanca Manchon (Spain) 13
