Tauranga's Sam Meech still has hopes of a medal as the World Sailing Championships head to a climax.

He's currently fourth in the 65-strong Lazer fleet at the championships in Aarhus, Denmark, with one race to come tomorrow before the medal race on Saturday.

Light and shifty winds caused the abandonment of one race today and a 13^th finish in the only race that was possible pushed him back a place, but he remains well within touch of the leaders.

He's just 13 points behind current leader Pavlos Kontides, the defending world champion, and eight behind Australian Tom Burton, currently in the bronze medal position.

In a large fleet the margin between Meech and the medal positions is not great.

The 13^th placing in today's race might not have hurt his chances greatly had his main competitors not beaten him across the line, he says.

'Unfortunately the people who I need to be in front of did really well in the race. If I didn't have a bad race yesterday, I would be more than happy with that.

"It's not quite where I wanted to be. We still have one more race tomorrow so there are a lot of points on the line. I will try to get myself back into a good position before the medal race."

He is still looking good to qualify in the Lazer for the New Zealand team at the Tokyo Olympics in 2020, regardless of the medal outcome. The sailing world champs act as the main qualifying event for the Olympics.

Younger sister Molly along with her partner Alex Maloney are not at their best but still have plenty to sail for.

They are eighth in the 49erFX but with most teams in the top 10 having a big score on their tally and three more races to come tomorrow before their medal race on Saturday have a good chance to improve their position.

Tauranga's Tom Saunders is 12^th in the Lazer fleet, while Jason Saunders and Gemma Jones sit 51^st in the Nacra 17 class and teenage up-and-comer Veerle ten Have is 53^rd in the Women's RS:X.