Reigning Olympic champion Matt Wearn began his medal defence strongly with second in race two, putting him narrowly behind Peschiera.

Portugal’s Eduardo Marques followed in third overall, carried by a fine fifth in race one, as he managed to navigate the unpredictable winds.

Peschiera said : “It was tricky. There were really patchy conditions out there. The right was mainly favoured today, but I think it was difficult to predict or see. I was mainly consistent. This is one of the most competitive fleets, so nothing is set.

“We’re going to take away all the good things and learn from any mistakes and treat it like one more day of sailing. The Marseille bay keeps surprising us, no two days are the same here.

“I’ve trained pretty hard for this, like everyone else, so I think it came down to the mental part today.”

Marques said : “It was really hard to understand where the pressure was coming from. In the first race I think I managed quite well, the second one was a bit messy for me, but I’m still happy.

“This place is really hard. It’s more about the pressure than the shifts. I’m just staying relaxed and trying to go as fast as possible.”

Cervera Launches French Bid in First Women’s Dinghy Race

Louise Cervera enjoyed a stellar first day of racing at Paris 2024 with a valuable win in the Women’s Dinghy.

The French sailor went out and impressed in the opening race of the ILCA 6 class, managing to handle the wind shifts well.

It was originally planned that a second race would take place, but that was subsequently postponed due to a lack of wind.

China’s Min Gu also rose to the occasion early, finishing a close second behind Cervera to lay an early marker of intent for the rest of the regatta.

Italy’s Chiara Benini Floriani then followed in third, once again managing to handle the challenging winds in Marseille.

Louise Cervera : “It’s nice to start with a victory. My plan was to give it my all. I had good speed and I started on the right side, so I took advantage of it to stay in front.

“It’s a good start, I had dreamed of it ! The tactic today was to carefully observe the different wind strengths, not to make too many turns and to go for speed.

“Taking the first yellow jersey at my first Olympic Games gives me confidence and reassures me a little, because before starting you don’t know how to position yourself in relation to the others.

“What’s also incredible is the supporters at the exit of the port. It gives you shivers and extra energy, it makes you want to push harder, to go for it with your heart.”

Benini Floriani said : “The wind wasn’t as light as I feared ; it got a bit tight. I had fun even though I wasn’t in the leading positions at the windward mark, but I made a good recovery afterward.

“It was a long day, but fortunately they had us wait onshore. We watched the tracking of the men, which definitely helped us read the field well.”

Great Britain’s Wilson Guaranteed a Medal after Topping Women’s Windsurfing Rankings

Great Britain’s Emma Wilson secured a medal in the Women’s Windsurfing by topping the rankings at the end of the Opening Series.

Wilson had another productive day on the water, starting off with a win which ultimately put her 31 points clear of the competition.

For topping the standings, Wilson automatically qualified for the Final that will determine which colour medal she gets.

Trailing behind the Brit was Israel’s Sharon Kantor, who managed to place second in race 13 today. Kantor will progress directly to the Semi-Final race, alongside Italy’s Marta Maggetti, who finished 21 points off Kantor.

The remaining athletes that finished between fourth and tenth will head into the Quarter-Final race that will open the windsurfing action tomorrow.

Wilson said : “”It’s really cool to be guaranteed a medal for tomorrow. It’s the best we can get in this format so I’m really happy.

“I just took it race by race and believed in my training that I’ve done all year, for the last three years. Just to perform how I’ve done this week at the Olympics is pretty cool.

“I don’t approach tomorrow differently. I go have food and physio and come back tomorrow like I have all week.”

Kantor said : “I still have tomorrow to race, which is a big day. I will continue being with my team, eat, drink, sleep. I’m just waiting for tomorrow.

“We had to wait for the wind. We were next to the island, we did one race and then the wind just dropped. We then found some wind, but it was gusty and tricky. It was a long day, I’m really looking forward to tomorrow.”