Mark Orams, NZME's resident 'sailing professor' details seven things we learned from day one in Bermuda.
1) TNZ are in the game, on the pace, boat looks fast, yes they made a mistake against Oracle but that will happen. But what really impressed me was the calmness, the solid communication, how smooth their manoeuvres were, all the systems looked good.
2) Dean Barker has got some fire in the belly! An aggressive move for day one of the regatta and it shows he means business! He has a point to prove, and good on him. He took it to the world's best sailor, Ben Ainslie, and came out on top. It was a very aggressive move, and to play that card so early was a surprise from him. But good on him, and a reminder of what a great sailor he is.
3) Team BAR has found some pace, whatever changes they have made have worked and they are competitive (compared to where they were at during the practice racing).
4) Mistakes cost you races, the old America's Cup days of the leading yacht dominating from the first mark rounding are not evident here. Both Artemis and team Oracle USA engineered passes by splitting with their opponent at the bottom gate and finding a good puff and favourable breeze to close up on the leader. They then were able to "hook" the leading boat by overlapping them and using the rules to force the lead boat to tack away (in the case of Artemis overtaking Softbank Team Japan) or hold up above the top mark (in the case of Team Oracle USA overtaking Emirates Team New Zealand).
