Yachting: Ainslie just ahead in tight regatta

Dean Barker looks across at Chris Dickson during round robin one of the Auckland Match Racing Regatta. Photo / Dean Purcell

Three-time Olympic gold medallist Ben Ainslie of Great Britain holds a narrow lead atop an extremely clustered leaderboard heading into the second day of the Omega Auckland match racing regatta.

Shifty winds and strong tides on Auckland's Waitemata Harbour tested the teams on day one of the regatta and produced a results board that defied any form guide.

Spectators were treated to extremely close racing, with spectacular luffing duels, tight finishes, penalties and collisions as teams fought for ascendancy.

At the end of a full day's racing, Ainslie topped the leaderboard with a 6-2 score while local contenders Dean Barker and Adam Minoprio, with Frenchman Bertrand Pace, were on 5-3 each.

With Australia's Torvar Mirsky and Karol Jablonski of Poland a further point back, the regatta is delicately poised heading in to the second day.

Minoprio said every point today would be crucial and he expected a very tight tussle to decide the four semifinalists at the end of the double round robin.

"The field of competitors here is so tough so the racing is really tight. Everyone has had at least two losses, which means everyone is capable of beating everyone else at any given time, so it is going to come down to the last races of the round robin to see who qualifies for the semifinals," said Minoprio, who holds the No 1 ranking in the world match racing standings.

Organisers pushed through eight flights on day one, meaning all skippers have just one match remaining before they can crank into the second round robin today.

One of the more closely watched battles of the day involved Minoprio against his mentor Barker and his Emirates Team New Zealand crew, with the young BlackMatch team claiming a major victory by 8 seconds.

The match saw two lead changes and a penalty against Barker, before the outcome was decided.

"That is a big win for us," a relieved Minoprio said afterwards.

The BlackMatch racing team had a disappointing start to the regatta, with a basic error proving costly in their second race of the day against Chris Dickson. The former BMW Oracle skipper, whose boat is crewed by Team New Zealand sailors, scored a convincing 31-second win over the highly rated youngster, who is 23 years his junior.

Later in the day Barker was also taken to school by Dickson. Despite his two impressive wins over his local rivals, Dickson lingers towards the bottom of the table after notching up just one further victory on day one.

Barker won the tightest match of the day, coming from behind to beat Sebastien Col of France by just 1 second. Ainslie defeated Pace in the biggest margin of the day, 1min 31sec, after a fiery match in which the Frenchman was penalised twice during a fierce luffing match.

LEADERBOARD
* Ben Ainslie (GBR)6 wins/2 losses
* Bertrand Pace (FRA)5/3
* Dean Barker (NZL)5/3
* Adam Minoprio (NZL)5/3
* Torvar Mirsky (AUS)4/4
* Karol Jablonski (POL)4/4
* Magnus Holmberg (SWE)3/5
* Chris Dickson (NZL)3/5
* Sebastien Col (FRA)3/5
* Francesco Bruni (ITA)2/6