KEY POINTS:
Finn yachtsman Dan Slater yesterday led a strong start by New Zealand sailors at an Olympic classes regatta at the French city of Hyeres.
Slater heads his dinghy class after second and first placings in the opening two races. He has a two-point margin over Austrian Florian Raudaschl, with Danish world champion Jonas Hoegh Christiansen a point back.
New Zealand have a team of 30 at the regatta, and Jo Aleh and Tom Ashley were second in their respective events, the Laser Radial and men's windsurfing.
The Laser Radial is being sailed in two fleets for the qualifying rounds and Aleh began her regatta with a win in the yellow fleet. Compatriot Miranda Powrie was a close second.
Powrie led for part of the contest but Aleh got a windshift on the last beat to hit the front.
Aleh followed up with a fourth in the second race, leaving her one point behind Frenchwoman Charlotte Blon in the combined standings.
Powrie finished the day in 15th overall.
Ashley's fourth and second placings in two races put him one point behind leader Ho Chi Ho, of Hong Kong. Ashley said the conditions were tough, with the breeze never getting above seven knots.
"Physically, I felt great and was able to pump comfortably for two races," he said.
"I'm pretty happy with my day. All but one of my main rivals had at least one bad race, which puts me in a great position for the rest of the regatta."
In the Laser dinghies, more than 180 sailors was split into four fleets for the qualifying rounds. Each fleet had just one race. Andrew Murdoch was second in his to be fifth equal on the combined standings.
- NZPA
