Erik Heil and Thomas Ploessel opened day one of the World Championships with a stunningly consistent performance while some of the other big guns failed to fire.
Two 49er races were completed after wild weather lashed the race areas off Auckland, New Zealand. With wind speeds up to 37 knots recorded on the race course earlier in the day, the sensible decision was made to keep all sailors ashore until sailable conditions arrived. After a delay long enough to cause even the most seasoned veterans to assume they were having a day off, the 49er fleet were sent out for two rounds of qualifying races.
With over 400 athletes competing from 40 nations and with the broadest ever suite of live coverage in Olympic sailing history capturing every race, the 2019 Hyundai World Championships will be the most important event on the sailors calendars prior to Tokyo 2020.
International fans can view the racing live at 49er.org/live or on Sky Sport 9 for those in New Zealand.
