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New Zealand sounded an early warning to competitors at the 2023 Etchells world championships at Biscayne Bay in Miami.
Skippered by Royal Akarana Yacht Club's Anatole Masfen, the Kiwi entry New Order won Monday's practice race in convincing fashion.
Masfen and his crew of Simon Cooke and Matthew Kelway led wire-to-wire despite not having sailed in any of the 2023 Winter Series events in the lead-up to the world champs, which was scheduled to start on Tuesday and run through to Saturday.
The first day's racing was, however, abandoned due to severe weather conditions.
Racing got under way on Wednesday (NZ time) with Canadian-flagged boat Cruel Jane 2.0 leading on five points - two points clear of second-placed Tons of Steel (US).
New Order ended the day 11th overall in the 62-boat fleet, after finishing 23rd and fourth in the two races.
“You saw today [Monday] that the boat from New Zealand crushed everybody,” said International Etchells Class Association president Jim Cunningham shortly after New Order's success in the curtain-raiser.
“At the end of the day, the teams that wind up standing on the podium are going to be the boats that get off the starting line well consistently, get up the first beat in good shape and make good decisions.”
Another Kiwi in the race is former Laser world champion Nik Burfoot, whose American boat Roulette is 18th overall after two races.
The Kiwi trio enjoyed a runaway victory at the NZ Etchells national championships earlier this month, winning four of the first five races to claim the title aboard Cruel Jane.
Masfen, Cooke and Canadian Dirk Kneulman finished runners-up at last year's event in Cowes.
For updates on the 2023 Etchells world championships, click here.
