America's Cup heroes Peter Burling and Blair Tuke may not have their own way in their bid to defend their Olympic 49er title at Tokyo 2020.
Last month, the pair - who have just completed a round-the-world race on separate boats - declared they would commit to another Olympic campaign, despite the looming defence of the Auld Mug.
But in their absence, New Zealand has two crews in the top three of the double-handed class at the sailing world championships at Aarhus, Denmark.
Logan Dunning Beck and Oscar Gunn lie second - three points behind as French combination - after winning two of their last three races.
Two points further back, Josh Porebski and Trent Rippey sit in third.
Dunning Beck and Gunn were joint leaders heading into the second day of competition, winning the first race of the day and placing ninth in the other, with the latter currently counting as their non-scoring worst result of the regatta.
The opening victory came despite an early mishap.
"We came out of a tack in the second leg, and I missed trapeze were and went for a bit of a swim," said Gunn. "We didn't capsize and only lost about 20 metres.
"It's always good to be out in front, especially at the worlds, which is the biggest event of the year."
Burling and Tuke won four consecutive world titles between 2013-18.
Meanwhile, Sam Meech maintained his lead in the Laser class, despite stumbling in his two races on Day Three. After opening the regatta with three wins and a second, he managed just 13th and fourth, as the field closed on him.
"I was really hoping today was going to be a little easier with the breeze being up a bit, especial in qualifying," he said. "It's nice to get away without any bad races, but it wasn't as bad as it could have been.
"Hopefully, other people would have had difficult races as well."
Meech has a rest day on Monday night (NZ time). His closes challengers are Aussies, with reigning Olympic champion Tom Burton six points adrift in fourth.
Newshub.
