Toyota dockside in Bermuda: Opening day action at America's Cup worth the wait

Team New Zealand and Oracle racing on the opening day of the America's Cup. Photo / ACEA 2017

After one of the most exciting starts ever to an America's Cup regatta who could argue that it wasn't worth the wait?

The delay caused by the 30 knot winds sweeping across this little island in the middle of the Atlantic served primarily to further whet the appetite and most fans...bar the French perhaps... must have been well satisfied.

The one-sided opener between Oracle and Groupama was a no-surprise procession reflecting what had been glaringly obvious during the practice racings. While the French boat goes well in a straight line it struggles in tacks and gybes and looks simply months adrift of the rest of the fleet.

So we had to wait until the second race pitching the Swedes against Dean Barker's Japanese to really set the tone, with Artemis converting a 17 second deficit into a 13 second win to prove these boats can catch up and overtake.

But the best of the racing came from Emirates Team New Zealand after their own demolition job on the French.

The encounter with Oracle was always the top billing and proved to be worthy of the label. After a close start the Cup holders edged ahead from the first mark only to be chased down by the Kiwis.

For a while it looked like they couldn't lose. But what we learned today was that a 200 metre or 20 second lead can disappear incredibly quickly. And it did.

Oracle closed the gap in dramatic style with Jimmy "Pitbull" Spithill living up to his name, forcing Peter Burling to peel away at the mark or be penalised.

There was no coming back and Oracle took the win and the point by 6 seconds.

But back at the Kiwi base there were no grim faces. The margin was tight, but more importantly they'd proved they could foot it with the "American" boat on all points of sail.

The sailors returned in remarkably good spirits because they knew they'd fared well in the first skirmish of the very long battle which lies ahead. Their boat is clearly up to the task and will only get faster.

The biggest surprise of the day came from the supposedly chronically slow British boat of Ben Ainslie Racing which suddenly found a whole new set of gears to speed ahead of the Swedes on Artemis from the start line. Sir Ben then proceeded to hold the Swedes at bay right round the track for an 11 second win.

But all the knight's good work was undone in the Brits second and the final race of the day against the Japanese. Dean Barker hounded Ainslie in the start box and the two boats collided with an almighty whack with BAR at fault and penalised.

The bigger penalty was the damage to the British boat with a gash in the port hull soon letting in water. The Japanese boat won comfortably but also suffered some damage.

Emirates Team New Zealand are due race both teams tomorrow but won't know who they'll actually face the until the morning.

-Martin Tasker travelled to Bermuda courtesy of Toyota