New Zealand's Rio 2016 49er gold medallists have taken the lead in the World Championships on the home water of Auckland ©Getty Images

Peter Burling and Blair Tuke, the Rio 2016 Olympic Games champions who have dominated 49er racing, rose to the top on the home waters of Auckland, with one day of racing remaining at the 49er, 49erFX and Nacra 17 World Championships.

Heading into today’s competition, New Zealand's Olympic champions needed to gain seven points to reel in the regatta leaders, Germany's Erik Heil and Thomas Ploessel.

The four-times world champions finished the day with a 13-point lead, and a race win, as the German challenge fell away dramatically.

Heil and Ploessel's form and fortunes went awry, as they registered 38 points in the course of three races.

Closing in on the top pair, but still with a large gap, are the 2017 world champions Dylan Fletcher and Stuart Bithell of Britain, seeking a podium finish in an event that offers Tokyo 2020 qualification.

The 49erFX fleet also has a new leader, with reigning world champions Annemiek Bekkering  and Annette Duetz of The Netherlands slipping ahead of Brazil's reigning Olympic champions Martine Grael and Kahene Kunze by a single point, having started 11 points behind.

Helen Naess and Marie Ronningen of Norway remain in touch, just eight points from the leaders.

The only team to keep all its scores inside the top 10 on a day of unpredictable racing conditions was the Argentinian pairing of Victoria Travascio and Sol Branz, who now lie fifth, two points back from Tina Lutz and Susann Beucke of Germany.

The lead changed in two of the three racing classes on the penultimate day of the 49er, 49erFX and Nacra 17 World Championships in Auckland ©World Sailing
The lead changed in two of the three racing classes on the penultimate day of the 49er, 49erFX and Nacra 17 World Championships in Auckland ©World Sailing

Italy's Vittorio Bissaro and Maelle Frascari remain at the head of the Nacra 17 standings, but a solid day of consistent finishing lifted Lin Cenholt and CP Lübeck into attacking distance for the gold medal on the final day of competition.

While most of the leading teams faltered at some point during today’s racing, scores of 8,5,7 were sufficient to lift the Danes to third overall on 73 points,

One point in front are the Australian cousins, Jason Waterhouse and Lisa Darmanin, who started the day with a 13th place before redeeming themselves with scores of 8 and 2 to finish six points away from the leaders.

Bissaro and Frascari opened with their their worst score yet in the regatta, finishing 20th, and could only manage 13th place in the second race.

But with the pressure on, they won the last race of the day to maintain their overall lead.

Tomorrow will see two final gold fleet races in the morning, followed by the double points medal races later in the day.