€72,000 is to be distributed across the ten Olympic and two Paralympic disciplines on show in Hyères when the medals are decided on Sunday 26 April. The Medal Races will also be broadcast live from Hyères on the ISAF website on Sunday 26 April.

Restricted entries of 40 boats per fleet ensured close competition from the off with Olympic and Paralympic gold medallists, multiple World Champions, Volvo Ocean Race winners and America's Cup sailors amongst the athletes.

Conditions in Hyères were light throughout the morning but picked up ensuring tight, tactical racing across five course areas. Stronger breeze, common in Hyères, is expected to return for the Medal Races on Sunday 26 April.

Anne Haeger and Briana Provancha (USA) enjoy opening days in Hyères. The pair led after day one in 2014 and now top the billing after the opening day at the 2015 edition.

Consistency was king for the Americans in what was a hard day of work on the water, "It was really challenging,” commented Provancha. "The breeze was shifting a lot and we had four starts today so two races were abandoned. The Race Committee did a really good job waiting for consistent breeze and fortunately we had two good races.”

A fourth and a third gives Haeger and Provancha and five point lead over Brazil's Fernanda Oliveira and Ana Luiza Barbachan. The Brazilians took the first race win and added an 11th. The day's other race victory was snapped up by Shasha Chen and Haiyan Gao (CHN). The pair are sixth overall.

The new 40-boat format has suited the Americans who have thrived in facing the best competition from the off. Having led after day one in 2014 they dropped down to third so aren't resting on their laurels, "We're probably one of the most inexperienced teams at the top so we're just plugging away every day and training to get the experience we need so we can perform at the [Olympic] Games. We're taking it a day at a time,” added Provancha.

"I think having the top 40 has been great and not having a qualifying series you're racing against the best from the get go and that's a really awesome thing that ISAF are doing. We're looking forward to more racing.”

€72,000 is to be distributed across the 12 events on show in Hyères when the medals are decided on Sunday 26 April. On the announcement Provancha concluded, "I think it's a great idea. Obviously for Abu Dhabi there was prize money there and that was awesome. It adds something extra to the competition but we love the racing and regardless of the prize money we're happy to be here.

"People here love sailing and it's great to be around it in Hyères.”

There were ups and downs aplenty in the Men's 470 but the top three stayed consistent, posting top scores to set an early marker.

Ferdinand Gerz and Oliver Szymanski (GER) lead on five points, Sime Fantela and Igor Marenic (CRO) follow on six whilst Gabrio Zandon and Andrea Trani (ITA) hold third. The Germans picked up the first race win of the day with Anton Dahlberg and Fredrik Bergstrom (SWE) taking the second. The Swedes are eighth overall.

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FOLDER: SVAPP News 2015 / 2015 ISAF Sailing World Cup – Hyères

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