Rio 2016 Olympian Finn Lynch (National Yacht Club) in the Men's ILCA7 event had a 12th and a fourth place on the opening day to end a solid eighth overall at the Sailing World Championships at The Hague.
The championships are the first opportunity to qualify for the Paris Olympics, a step Lynch failed to make for Tokyo four years ago.
Lynch's solid start today is typical of some recent form, including a well-earned sixth at last month's Olympic Test event, so hopes are high a nation place will be secured this week.
A second Irish ILCA 7 sailor, Ewan McMahon (Howth Yacht Club), recovered from a 40th in the opening race to place 17th.
Champion Australian Wearn was far from his fluent best on the ICLA 7 class's opening day as two-time Olympic silver medallist Stipanovic stole the show.
The experienced Croatian grabbed two blue fleet victories as Beckett, who had gold snatched away from him by Wearn at last month’s Test Event in Marseille, finished third and first in the yellow fleet.
Wearn could only muster two 11th-place finishes in the blue fleet as Cypriot Pavlos Kontides finished fourth and second in those races to lie third in the overall standings ahead of Hermann Tomasgaard (NOR).
Wearn, 27, recovered from a similarly slow start to grab Olympic gold in Tokyo two summers ago and says channelling memories of that fightback can fuel a rousing Dutch turnaround.
He said: “[Tokyo] definitely does cross the mind – even though things might not be great now, there’s still a lot of racing ahead.
“I always knew it was going to be a long and tough week – I definitely think about it every now and then, and I’ve just got to keep pushing.”
Beckett trails Stipanovic by two points heading into the second day of racing, adding: “You can’t win anything on day one, but you can lose a lot, and I haven’t lost it.”
Results are here