Drysdale eased to a comfortable victory in the second heat at the Bankstream event at Lake Ruataniwha in a time of 7m 9.05s, well ahead of his closest contender Karl Manson from Central RPC.
Drysdale is seeking his eighth national title in the single sculls, but Central RPC's Robbie Manson and defending champion Hamish Bond from Southern RPC could potentially stand in his way after finishing first and second respectively in their heat.
However, only Manson progressed directly to the A final after edging Bond by just over five seconds in the quicker heat time of just over seven minutes.
Only the top sculler from each heat advanced directly to the A final with the remainder required to challenge a repechage. Waikato RPC's Eric Murray pulled out of the regatta because of a niggling back injury.
The women's premier single scull title is up for grabs with consecutive six-time champion Emma Twigg unable to return to New Zealand for this regatta. Top contenders include yesterday's heat winners Lucy Spoors from Southern RPC and Zoe Stevenson from Waikato RPC. Spoors and Stevenson are straight through to the A final, with all other scullers heading to a repechage. Stevenson will have a slight mental edge heading into the finals with the quicker heat time.
The new events on the programme were the men's and women's club coxless pairs. The top four crews from each men's heat progressed to the semifinals.
