Pete Burling and Blair Tuke, who returned to Olympic 49er racing to win the Oceanbridge Regatta early this month, are struggling to repeat that dominant performance at the New Zealand Nationals.
The Kiwi pair Logan Dunning-Beck and Oscar Gunn are tied for the lead with Will and Sam Phillips of Australia after eight races.
Burling and Tuke are in third place, five points off the two leaders crews.
Race wins have been spread through the fleet, and although Burling and Tuke have taken two wins they have been anything but consistant, including a UFD in race 2.
In the women’s 49erFX Nationals, Alexandra Maloney and Molly Meech have dominated, winning five of the eight races.
In second place are the Aussie pair Tess Lloyd and Jamie Ryan with Tanja Frank and Lorena Abicht of Austria in third.
New Zealand 49er Nationals – Leaders after 8 Races (13 entries)
1st NZL Logan Dunning-Beck and Oscar Gunn – – 20 pts
2nd AUS Will Phillips and Sam Phillips – – 20 pts
3rd NZL Peter Burling and Blair Tuke – – 25 pts
4th NZL Issac McHardie and William McKenzie – – 27 pts
5th NZL Markus Sommerville and Jack Simpson – – 28 pts
6th NZL Josh Porebski and Trent Rippel – – 32 pts
New Zealand 49erFX Nationals – Leaders after 8 Races (9 entries)
1st NZL Alexandra Maloney and Molly Meech – – 9 pts
2nd AUS Tess Lloyd and Jamie Ryan – – 17 pts
3rd AUT Tanja Frank and Lorena Abicht – – 18 pts
4th AUT Angelika Kohlendorfer and Lisa Farthofer – – 25 pts
5th NZL Campbell Stanton and William Shapland – – 33 pts
6th NZL Ben Paterson and Sean Paterson – – 39 pts