Prior to the World Cup Final in Melbourne, Lilley and Paine last sailed in the finn medal race in the Brazilian city in August.

Paine dominated, winning comfortably to leap dramatically up the leader-board and claim Olympic bronze while Lilley came through in fifth to finish eighth overall. 

The duo have taken some time off since the Games to focus on new ventures but wasted no time in renewing their rivalry today as they battled at the front of the pack.

After four races Lilley holds the lead on four points and is trailed by Ed Wright of Great Britain on six and Paine on seven.

"It's nice to be back in the finn and great to be back out on the water again, and not feel any particular pressure at this point," said Paine.

"I took a lot of time off and yesterday was my first day of finn sailing since the Games."

Rio 2016 Olympic silver medallists Jason Waterhouse and Lisa Darmanin of Australia continue to control the Nacra 17 fleet after they made it five wins in a row today.

However, New Zealand's young pairing of Olivia Mackay and Micah Wilkinson halted their dominant run by winning the sixth race of the series.

The Netherlands' Kiran Badloe and Zofia Noceti Klepacka of Poland were truly dominant in the men's and women's RS:X, winning all three races.

Klepacka, the bronze medallist at London 2012, missed out on selection for Rio 2016 but tops the leader-board on 11 points.

She is followed by Spaniard Marina Alabau and China's Yunxiu Lu who sit in second on 17 points each.

Badloe currently leads Spaniard Ivan Pastor by five points in the men's division.

Britain's Oliver Bridge was finally defeated in a formula kite fleet qualification race today.

Having won 10 races in a row, Florian Gruber of Germany beat him in the 11th, but Bridge was instantly back to winning ways in the 12th.

Australians Mat Belcher and Will Ryan are the duo to beat in the men's 470, winning both of today's races.

Lara Vadlau and Jolanta Ogar of Austria solidified their lead in the women's fleet following a second and a first place.

They are four points clear of Australian duo Carrie Smith and Jaime Ryan, who won the day's other women's 470 race.

Dutch sailor Marit Bouwmeester put some space between her and Denmark's Anne-Marie Rindom in the laser radial, taking a first and second today compared to the Dane's fourth and discarded fifth to hold a three point lead.

Italian Silvia Zennaro remains third overall, but Hungary's Maria Erdi climbed the leader-board after a first and fifth.

She now trails the Italian by just five points with six fleet races remaining.

Cyprus' Pavlos Kontides cracked the overnight tie at the head of the laser division following a third and a first to now lead Australia's Matt Wearn by a single point.

Rio 2016 Olympic gold medallist Tom Burton of Australia won the day's opening race to move to third overall.

In the 49er and 49erFX, Isaac McHardie and William McKenzie of New Zealand and Australians Tess Lloyd and Eliza Solly lead the men's and women's skiff classes respectively.

Gusts of more than 35 knots are predicted to sweep into Melbourne overnight, potentially ruling out competition tomorrow if it sustains.

Racing is scheduled to commence at 12pm local time but an assessment on the conditions will be made in the morning.