There were plenty of sore bodies after racing overnight (NZ time) at the Laser world championships in Croatia and there was also a fair degree of satisfaction as well as disappointment among the Kiwi contingent.
Sam Meech continued his good form, collecting three second-placed finishes in the strong winds to sit in fourth, only two points behind Cypriot Pavlos Kontides, and he was joined in the top 10 by Tom Saunders, who is seventh after banking a second, fourth and third in his three races.
Andrew McKenzie thought he had moved up considerably into 17th after three solid races only to be slapped with a disqualification after a protest. It meant the 46th he scored in the opening race of the regatta needed to count - all sailors discard their worst score in qualifying - and he slipped well down the leaderboard.
"Unfortunately for me, a he-said-she-said protest in the final race of the day means I pick up a DSQ which has sent me all the way back to 50th," he said. "This makes me the 'first loser', meaning I will be in silver fleet for the rest of the regatta. I disagree with the decision and find it very disappointing but there is nothing I can do now."
Meech and Saunders comfortably qualified for gold fleet, which is made up of the top third of the field of 147 sailors, although it wasn't always comfortable on the race track off the coast of Split.
