With 15 high-speed catamarans firing out of a reaching start, day one of the M32 World Championship was a big, fun learning curve for everyone in Marstrand, Sweden.

Getting ahead of the pack was a key skill on such a busy start line, and one sailor who seems to have learned the knack quickly is Olympic Finn sailing veteran, Pieter-Jan Postma who steered Sailing Team NL to scores of 2,2,1,3. The Flying Dutchman was the only skipper to keep all his scores inside the top three, although he's tied on points with young Kiwi Chris Steele and CFA Sport Racing who scored 1,2,4,1.

Postma hasn't long been racing the M32 catamaran but has got to grips with the high-performance demands of the boat very fast. "Today was a very awesome day, an amazing situation in Marstrand with 15 boats on the start line. It was very tight, very exciting and we had a good day. The reaching start is great. I see starting as an art, you hit the pace at the right moment, with the team all synced and the hull flying, it's a fantastic experience."

Fellow New Zealander Hayden Goodrick is sailing with Chris Steele and is one of the most experienced M32 sailors around. Today though, was new territory for everyone.

The 2008 Olympic Champion in the 49er skiff, Jonas Warrer, is also doing well in third overall, and the Danish skipper was the other race winner today. However the Corinthian owner-drivers are also faring well against the Olympic medallists and America's Cup sailors in the fleet.

Leading the Corinthian battle is Don Wilson and Convexity in fourth overall, while Richard Davies and Section 16 are in sixth overal

Friday promises more exhilarating conditions for day 2 of the M32 World Championship. -- Andy Rice

1. CFA Sport Racing, NZL, Chris Steele, 8 points
2. Sailing Team Nl, NED, Pieter-Jan Postma, 8
3. Warrer Racing, DEN, Jonas Warrer, 13
4. Convexity, USA, Don Wilson, 19
5. Chinaone Ningbo, NZL, Phil Robertson, 19
6. Section 16, SUI, Richard Davies, 27
7. Redline Racing, AUS, Matt Jerwood, 30
8. KSSS, SWE, Rasmus Rosengren, 33
9. Grave Digger, USA, James Prendergast, 38
10. Flux Team, SWE, Johnie Berntsson, 39
11. Gazprom Team Russia, RUS, Victor Serezhkin, 43
12. Gac Pindar, GBR, Ian Williams, 45
13. Essiq Racing Team, SWE, Nicklas Dackhammar, 48
14. Cape Crow Vikings, SWE, HAkan Svensson, 52
15. Magenta Robline, GBR, Olivia Mackay, 59

m32world.com