America’s Cup: Team NZ on the bubble after opening day of Women’s America’s Cup

Emirates Team New Zealand finished the day third in the standings, with Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli leading the way. Photo / Ricardo Pinto, America's Cup

Team New Zealand sit on the bubble after the opening day of the inaugural Women’s America’s Cup.

The Kiwis finished the day with a second, third and two fourth placings from the first four races of their fleet racing pool, taking on the five other America’s Cup teams.

Italians Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli emerged as the early favourite in the competition, winning three of the day’s four races, with Great Britain’s Athena Pathway winning the other.

“That was a pretty epic day. We had a bit of everything,” Athena Pathway helm Hannah Mills said.

“It was actually quite choppy, especially the downwinds. It made the gybes a little bit sketchy, especially for us - we didn’t do the best job there - but the starting was good. It was just nice to have some good solid breeze for those last few races.”

It was a day of varied conditions, with the first couple of races being contested in lighter breeze before the wind picked up for the later contest, while the sea state provided a choppy track for racing.

That saw several teams struggle with splashdowns and staying on the foils at times.

The New Zealand crew finished the day third on the ladder with 18 points, 11 back from Athena Pathway and 15 behind Luna Rossa.

The top three boats after eight fleet races move on to the next stage in the competition, where they will meet the top three teams from pool B, which features the six invited nations.

The Kiwis are well-placed to go on with the job as they held a three-point buffer on Switzerland’s Alinghi Red Bull Racing.

Things got off to a great start for Team NZ in the opening race of the regatta.

A rather slow start in a tricky breeze saw them and Athena Pathway pull well clear of the fleet off the starting line, and while Luna Rossa showed their speed to get back into the race, it was the Brits and the Kiwis contesting the top two spots; though the Brits sailed well-clear for an impressive win first up.

The Kiwis struggled in the starting box in race two, coming off their foils and struggling to get going.

They did well to secure a fourth-placed finish in the race, before backing that up with another top-three.

In the day’s final race, with the breeze getting up a bit, the Kiwis found themselves in a battle between third and fourth against France’s Orient Express L’Oreal Racing Team, but weren’t quite able to get past the French down the final leg of the race.

The America’s Cup teams will get the day off racing when the regatta resumes tomorrow, with Pool B getting their first opportunity with four races on the schedule.

Pool A standings after four races

• Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli (Italy) - 33
• Athena Pathway (UK) - 29
• Emirates Team New Zealand - 18
• Alinghi Red Bull Racing (Switzerland) - 15
• Orient Express L’Oreal Racing Team (France) - 11
• American Magic (USA) - 6

Christopher Reive joined the Herald sports team in 2017, bringing the same versatility to his coverage as he does to his sports viewing habits.