The pairing did not enjoy the best of starts on the bay of Aigues Mortes in France though as they discarded a 19th place finish in the opening race of the day.

They quickly recovered though and, after two second place finishes, retained their lead on a total of 29 points.

Great Britain's Ben Saxton and Katie Dabson finished today's competition in second place for a third day in a row.

After also suffering a miserable start, a discarded 10th in race one, they responded by winning the second and placing fifth in the third to move onto 31 overall.

Spanish duo Iker Martinez and Olga Maslivets moved into third place overall.

A fourth and race win gave them a promising start to the day but an 11th in the third halted their progress as they sit in third on 38.

Italians Ruggero Tita and Caterina Banti started the day off in third but had a tough time on the water today.

They now find themselves back in seventh after finishing third, 18th, which they have discarded, and 10th.

New Zealand's Gemma Jones and Jason Saunders showed signs of improvement and climbed the standings as a result.

A fifth, 11th and second today has propelled them into fourth place on 40.

The mixed Nacra 17 class first featured on the Olympic programme at Rio 2016 and is due to return at Tokyo 2020.

The World Championships are, however, be the first competition to feature a newly configured foil design.

Action is scheduled to continue tomorrow.