They gave a polished display to record a time of 7min 24sec at Lake Ruataniwha, the third fastest time of the day.
They also reached the final in the under-17 coxed four when they were joined by Daniel Gold, Chris Jane and cox Jamie Burgess. The crew finished second in their heat.
It was won by the Dunstan four of Blair van der Voort, Andy Brun, Jayden Spence, Luke Robinson and cox Mat Anderson in 6min 50.79sec.
Cameron Nimmo (St Kevins) won his under-18 single sculls heat in 7min 45sec to advance to the semifinals on Thursday.
John McGlashan's Thomas Stott won his heat in the under-17 single sculls in 7min 39sec.
Georgina Galloway (Mount Aspiring College) finished third in her heat of the girls' under-18 single sculls in 8min 25sec and will face a repechage today.
