AC-50-Catamaran - Louis Vuitton Cup - Hamilton BER - Day 1

The 35th America’s Cup finally started on Saturday (27th May) afternoon with the first six races of the Louis Vuitton America’s Cup Qualifiers, and the action on the water more than certainly lived up to expectations, as excitement and drama aplenty unfolded on Bermuda’s Great Sound, in what proved a particularly positive first day for the Cup Defender 'Oracle Team USA'. All teams completed two races and 'Oracle' with Jimmy Spithill AUS was the only one to win both heats, the second one against 'Emirates Team New Zealand' with an 8 sec advantage only. After a major split, Spithill AUS was able to reduce a 20 sec deficit, create an inside overlap on Gate 5 and after luffing Burling NZL to almost a halt, the Kiwis were on the losing edge. Surprisingly, 'Artemis' with Nathan Outteridge AUS impressive in the tune-up races was defeated by 'Team BAR' with Ben Ainslie GBR. In their second race of the day, the Brits collided with the Japanes team 'Softbank' with Dean Barker NZL, were penalised and had no chance to come back in the short race. Both shore teams had much work during the past night.
The detailed news with results, the videos and Paul Cayard's comments.