The Spanish pair earlier registered third and seventh-place finishes on a day which saw them become genuine contenders for the title.

Echegoyen, the London 2012 gold medallist in the women’s Elliott 6 metres event, and Betanzos, a 470 world champion in 2011, are a point ahead of the 2015 world champions and defending European champions, Italy’s Giulia Conti and Francesca Clapcich.

The Netherlands’ Annemiek Bekkering and Annette Duetz returned from taking a day off yesterday to post two firsts and a third, and climb back up the table to fifth.

The Dutch duo have won six of the 10 races they've contested in Barcelona having triumphed at the recent Trofeo Princesa Sofía in Spain’s Bay of Palma.

Olympic silver medallists Peter Burling and Blair Tuke continue to dominate the 49er with the New Zealanders 34 points ahead of second-placed Australians Nathan Outteridge and Iain Jensen.

Outteridge and Jensen, who beat Burling and Tuke to gold at London 2012, scored 18 points from three races but fell 10 points further behind their rivals.

Argentinian brothers Yago and Klaus Lange rose all the way up to 12th after scoring a seventh, a third and a second behind Burling and Tuke.

"We would have won the last race, but Burling and Tuke just kept shortening our lead," they said.

"Every tiny error we made they would pull back some metres, until they were passed us.

"They are incredible."

Denmark’s Christian Peter Stephensen Lübeck, new crew of Beijing 2008 gold medallist Jonas Warrer, won his first 49er gold fleet race today with victory in the second contest. 

In the British selection fight, John Pink and Stuart Bithell had an average day but still sit in the bronze medal position.

James Peters and Fynn Sterritt lie in seventh, while all the way back in 16th are their rivals, world bronze medallists Dylan Fletcher and Alain Sign. 

Racing continues tomorrow with three more races scheduled for all fleets.

At the end of the first day of competition at the Laser Radial World Championship in the Mexican city of Puerto Vallarta, the United States’ Erika Reinecke, Guadalupe’s Isabella Maegli and China’s Lijia Xu are leading the fleet based on provisional results.

Two more races are scheduled for both fleets tomorrow, the second of the four qualifying race days.