Mills, who won the gold medal at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro alongside former partner Saskia Clark, and McIntyre finished the opening day with a net total of six points.

The British pairing were fifth in the first race but ended with a flourish by claiming victory in the second.

Mills and McIntyre have an early five-point lead over nearest challengers Bàrbara Cornudella Ravetllat and Sara López Ravetllat of Spain and the Italian duo of Elena Burta and Bianca Caruso, both of whom have 11 points.

Poland's Paweł Tarnowski was among the star performers of the event at the course which will host sailing competitions at the Paris 2024 Olympics as he recovered from a poor start to move into first place on the men's RS:X leaderboard.

The Polish sailor, a world champion in 2012, discarded his 11th-place result from the first race and bounced back in style, claiming two bullets to end the day on two points.

Pierre Le Coq, one of France's main gold medal hopes in Marseille this week, and team-mate Thomas Goyard each have seven points after three races.

There was further success for Britain as Michael Beckett leads the way in the men's laser class.

Beckett finished fifth and third from the two races held today, joining Norway's Hermann Tomasgaard on eight points.

Italy's Giovanni Coccoluto is a point further behind in third.

Action across all of the classes is due to continue tomorrow.