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Spanish men seize skiff lead from 'McKiwis' in breezy Med

MARSEILLE: Spain's SailGP winning duo of Diego Botin and Florian Trittel seized the initiative in the skiff on Tuesday, springing above Ireland and New Zealand to top the Olympic leaderboard.

Isaac McHardie and William McKenzie, dubbed the 'McKiwis', could not match their lighter wind consistency of previous days, while the Spanish savoured a stiffer breeze and bigger waves.

Britain's James Peters and Fynn Sterritt also got into their Mediterranean mode, lifting their overall position to fourth, one place behind the Kiwis.

The British crew stole the lead from Spain on the line in the last race of the day after a scintillating duel in the final leg, gybing away to keep their spinnaker full in fading wind.

Ireland's Robert Dickson and Sean Waddilove, meanwhile, sailed solidly enough to maintain second overall.

In the women's skiff, Dutch duo Odile van Aanholt and Annette Duetz relished the wind to regain the lead from France.

LEG STRETCHING

Stronger breezes also suited New Zealand's Olympic gold and silver medal winner Jo Aleh and her crew Molly Meech, who leapt up to eighth with a win in Tuesday's last race.

"It was a fun way to start off by stretching our legs and having a fast boat," said Van Aanholt.

For the Kiwi women, an end to the frustrations of the light breezes which characterised the first six races was obvious in their smiles after their 49erFX fleet got back ashore.

"We've been saying to ourselves the whole week that we really want to enjoy this regatta and today we finally had some fun," said New Zealand's Meech, who won skiff silver in 2016.

The breeze made for a great spectacle in the windsurfing, with athletes 'flying' above the surface of the sea on their boards, lifted by their high-tech foils. Their sails, shaped like a single butterfly wing, giving them their power.

Luuc van Opzeeland of the Netherlands, who topped the men's table at the close, said: "The wind actually got pretty strong, so in the last race I managed to lock in and bring it home."

Poland's Pawel Tarnowski and Israel's Tom Reuveny are hot on his heels in second and third respectively.

"There's still a long way to go. The forecast tomorrow looks good so we should have a lot of racing. Anything can happen," said Reuveny.

Britain's Emma Wilson was again the woman to beat, maintaining her overnight windsurfing lead, with Israel's Sharon Kantor in second and Italy's Marta Maggetti in third. --REUTERS

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