Open BIC Worlds Day1, the Italian job in Auckland, New Zealand

Manly Bay, Auckland, New Zealand - The event got going under beautiful sunny skies, but in fairly light winds of 5 - 8 knots that tested the sailors' skills in each fleet, Under 13 and Under 17, and the respective leader boards are taking shape.

In the U13s, including competitors as young as 9 and 10 years old, Australia's Breanne Wadley showed her class, dominating proceedings with 2 wins and a 3rd place to lead the rankings ahead of Japan's Saki Nukui and the consistent Tiphaine Rideau from France.

Breanne Wadley was happy with her performance today: "Racing here is really nice, but very fluky though, which is actually quite like racing back home where we race on a dam. It's very nice, the winds have been nice so far. The boat is great, I love the speed and there are so many friends you can make at the event."

Meanwhile, in the U17s it's an Italian job, with Davide Mulas, Federica Benvenuti Gostoli and Leopoldo Sirolli occupying the top 3 places after day 1, with Australia's Hamish Cowell very close behind in 4th.

Davide Mulas (with a little help in translating from his teammate) gave us his thoughts on the racing: "Today was a fantastic day and I did very well. Even though the boat is not big it is very fast. It's a very fun class where the sailors respect the rules and each other."

We'll be back for the second day's racing tomorrow and hoping for some stronger winds. With nine races still to come there's everything to play for and, as usual, you can follow all the action as it happens on the official event website at worlds2019.openbicclass.org