Yachting: Aleh and Powrie lead 470s

New Zealand sailors Jo Aleh and Olivia Powrie have taken the lead at the 470 world championship in the Netherlands.

They replaced an American pair atop the women's 62-boat fleet with a win and a fourth placing in the day's two races.

Having started the day in second place they now lead Italians Giulia Conti and Giovanna Micol by four points while Americans Erin Maxwell and Isabelle Farrar Kinsolving, who opened with two wins yesterday, slipped to third overall.

Of the other New Zealand crews, Melinda Henshaw and Bianca Barbarich-Bacher are 19th and Sarah and Emma Berry 51st.

In the 119-boat men's fleet, the best of the New Zealanders are Geoff Woolley and Dan Willcox in 23rd place, ahead of Paul Snow-Hansen and Jason Saunders in 27th and Francisco Lardies and Finn Drummond in 39th.

The last of the qualifying rounds is tomorrow ahead of a finals series stretching over four days.

- NZPA