America's Cup, Preliminary regatta in Jeddah Day 1

Jeddah Race 1

A cautious start for all in the opening race with the fleet staying above the line in order to fast gybe back to get below and start with speed. NYYC American Magic were first called OCS (over the line) and then copped a further two penalties before being disqualified for a boundary infringement as they wallowed in displacement off the foils. Emirates Team New Zealand ace the start, coming over to the right side on port tack, trailed by Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli, whilst INEOS Britannia made a glamour entry at the pin end of the line on starboard tack at pace with Orient Express Racing. Up the first beat, the Kiwis played the middle and rounded first with a 60-metre lead and continued to build on that down the first downwind. Orient Express fell off the foils on a big ventilation, leaving INEOS Britannia to really secure their second place.

Alinghi Red Bull Racing came off the foils at the first leewards mark. Emirates Team New Zealand and INEOS Britannia gapped the fleet up the second beat with the Kiwis stretching away and enjoying a 36 second lead at the second windward mark. Downwind, the gybe angles on both the Kiwi and British boats saw high exits to keep the power on as the helms kept it smooth and the trimmers maintained power in the mainsail and jib through delicate control. Race control reduced the length of the legs to 0.7 nautical miles and on the final upwind, Emirates Team New Zealand stretched away into a 450 metre lead and rounded the final windward mark 1 minute and 5 seconds ahead. No mistakes down the final run to the finish, Peter Burling, Nathan Outteridge, Blair Tuke and Andy Maloney brought the Kiwi yacht home to secure a vital first win and stamp their mark on the America’s Cup Preliminary Regatta, presented by NEOM. In second place, and securing 7 points was INEOS Britannia after a brilliantky executed race by Sir Ben Ainslie, Giles Scott, Bleddyn Mon and Iain Jensen. Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli secure the final place on the podium in race one.

Jeddah Race 2

Interesting starting tactics in race two with the fleet all staying upwind of the start-line with 30 seconds to go in order to execute a fast gybe back behind and keep pace on in the marginal foiling conditions of around 7 knots. Emirates Team New Zealand aced the start again, hitting the committee boat end of the line on port tack and leading off the line with INEOS Britannia giving chase. Alinghi Red Bull Racing started down on the pin end of the line at pace and going out to the port boundary. The first beat was all about minimising manoeuvres with the fleet going out to the boundaries, but it was the Kiwis that clicked into a little puff on the right side by the starboard boundary who capitalised and seized the lead.

At the top mark it was a smooth exit and downwind Emirates Team New Zealand stretched into an unassailable lead. At the leeward mark, INEOS Britannia overtook Alinghi Red Bull Racing to take second place as NYYC American Magic who had been scored an OCS at the start that they resolved, closed up on the front-runners. The Swiss got ahead of the British whilst American Magic also overtook INEOS Britannia as the three contested the podium places whilst the Kiwis sailed away. American Magic came off the foils on the first gybe and lost distance, leaving INEOS Britannia and Alinghi Red Bull Racing in an almost match-race. The Swiss elected to take the port gate whilst the British took the starboard gate and it was a split tack final beat as both boats hit their respective boundaries. Meanwhile up front, Emirates Team New Zealand were off into the distance, building a lead of some 700 metres to lead at the final windward gate by 1 minute 33 seconds. Alinghi Red Bull Racing consolidated their second place, but it was close with INEOS Britannia as they split at the final gate and selected different tactics downwind. By the finish, Emirates Team New Zealand secured the win by a large margin of some 1 minute 40 seconds with the Swiss securing second and INEOS Britannia in third. High technique on display from all the teams but it was a masterclass from the Kiwis.

Jeddah Race 3

The die was cast off the start-line in race three with Marco Gradoni, just 19 years old, bringing Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli in on a pin end port tack flyer sitting to leeward of Emirates Team New Zealand but crucially with pace and power to steal a march that they simply would never lose. At the top mark it became a three-way battle with Orient Express Racing Team muscling into the podium positions and split gybe tactics brought it desperately close at the bottom gate. Crucially, and perhaps the moment of the race, was the decision by the Italians to take the port gate and head out to the right-hand side of the course on the second beat where they clicked into more breeze. Emirates Team New Zealand elected to take the starboard gate and hit the port boundary where a fatal light patch ended their chances.

Up the second beat, Orient Express overtook the Kiwis to round the second windward mark in second with the Italians building and building their lead. On the second downwind leg, Luna Rossa made no mistakes and gapped away with Orient Express whilst a fall off the foils by Emirates Team New Zealand ended their race completely. Alinghi Red Bull Racing sailed into the final podium place ahead of the last beat but almost came off the foils on the rounding with INEOS Britannia close behind whilst up front, Orient Express came off their foils and got a boundary penalty trying to get back up. Somehow the French managed to attain flight and cleared their penalty whilst Luna Rossa streaked away, rounding the final windward mark and trucking downwind at 30 knots to secure a massive win, over half a leg ahead of the competition. Orient Express Racing Team secured a fabulous second place, whilst Alinghi Red Bull Racing held off a strong challenge from INEOS Britannia to take third place.

Red Sea delight for New Zealand and Italy

Undoubtedly one of the most beautiful venues in the world for high-performance sailing, the Red Sea served up challenging afternoon conditions for the sailors in the America's Cup Preliminary Regatta Jeddah, presented by NEOM. As the sea-breeze filtered in, bang on cue ahead of racing, it was a day of high technique where Emirates Team New Zealand exerted their dominance on the fleet, sailing with real consistency and a smoothness that was exemplary in the first two races.

Peter Burling and Nathan Outteridge put on a masterclass of fleet racing, securing the lead early with two brilliant starts and then proved to be exemplary front-runners, stretching away into commanding leads that just built and built. It was looking ominous for the rest of the contenders who were sailing hard for the podium positions with some superb boat on boat action all the way down the fleet.

Andy Maloney, Trimmer behind Peter Burling in the starboard pod of the AC40, summed up the day for the Kiwis, saying: "It was light winds so the difference between a good race and a great race was pretty small. Good day for us with two wins and then unfortunately we had an unforced error in that last race and didn't get a good result. We were fortunate to get two great starts in those first two races and execute well from there."

The Kiwis didn't have it all their own way and in race three it was the young sailing talent of Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli with Olympic Gold medallist Ruggero Tita and 19-year-old Marco Gradoni who started brilliantly, read the conditions perfectly and sailed off into the distance to secure a resounding race win. Brilliant sailing and outstanding front-running from the Italians, the wire-to-wire win was a marker of intent and perhaps a big indicator of what to expect in the future. The dominant Kiwis fell off their foils downwind and dropped out of contention as Orient Express Racing Team from France took second and Alinghi Red Bull Racing from Switzerland secured third.

Ruggero Tita, helmsman for Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli, spoke afterwards saying: "We are super happy about this last race win. Of course, it was a super-tricky race, but we managed to arrive at the end on the foils which means that we did a really good job. The first two races were not so good, we did some mistakes, but we kept on pushing and were able to gain some positions so happy about the day. To be honest we know that it's going to be two more hard days, but we will try to push hard to do our best...Jimmy (Spithill) told us that 'everything is possible' but we stay low profile and try to do our best day by day and race by race."

The end of the day standings sees Emirates Team New Zealand clear at the top of the leaderboard, but they know that any mistakes will be capitalised on by the fleet. INEOS Britannia, reinvigorated after an excellent Practice Day yesterday, continued their fabulous form, showing great speed and real accuracy through the manoeuvres. Alinghi Red Bull Racing were doggedly persistent throughout the three races and ended the day tied with INEOS Britannia in third place with the stage set for a thrilling day two battle between these two.

Sir Ben Ainslie praised his team for the huge performance leap, saying: "Certainly a lot of people have talked about our performance in Vilanova and that's really tough for any sports team...so when you go down to those depths, I always say it's when you find out if you've got a team or not. We've been through some tough times as an organisation and each time you're down, you figure out how to get out the other side better, and that's what's happened here. As frustrated as we were, everyone's pulled together."

Arnaud Psarofaghis, helmsman for Alinghi Red Bull Racing commented: "We had a great battle with INEOS Britannia and other teams, but it was great because we really had to push ourselves into all the details to be able to come out ahead. I think you can see from the outside that if you make a mistake, it's not over but it's very close and you have to push all the time and see if you can do things better...the fleet were sailing really well, and I think it's great for the sport and everyone watching."

Orient Express Racing Team secured a superb second place in Race Three and tactically have been very astute, sailing the shifts, reading the breeze and showing some serious straight-line speed but the almost inexplicable performance of the day was NYYC American Magic who, over three races, had a whole host of issues falling off their foils before the starts and copping numerous umpire penalties that leaves them at the foot of the table with just 1 point gained from the day. A mountain to climb for the Americans if they are to have a say in this regatta by the end.

Speaking afterwards Tom Slingsby was hard on himself and the performance, saying: "A really tough day, I don't think I've had a day like that before. I don't know what to say, we're frustrated, embarrassed, it's not good enough and we need to do a better job. We know we can sail better than that. We're still the team that won in Vilanova, but we made mistakes today and we've got to make sure we learn from them and don't make them again."

The forecast for race day two here in Jeddah is for a more solid northerly breeze on Friday afternoon and with the leaderboard crowded and close on points, it's anyone's regatta to win from here.