There was sun and wind for the first day of the Trapani Louis Vuitton Acts, the two most important ingredients for successful racing.

Add in a big spectator fleet, plenty of crowds on shore in the America’s Cup Park and a few upsets on the race course, and the final regatta of the 2005 season is off to a grand start.

Early in the day, it appeared it might be difficult to start racing as there was no wind over the race area. But close to start time, the wind began to build and 12-knot south-westerly breezes allowed racing to get underway. Towards the end of the first flight however, the wind had eased and had become much more shifty and fluky and this was the dominant trait for the second flight of the day.

Luna Rossa was the star among the three Italian teams on the first day. Skipper Francesco de Angelis led his team to two wins over China Team, and then past the Sicilian favourites, +39 Challenge. The Sicilians had a more difficult start to the regatta, falling as well to Victory Challenge.

The third Italian team, Mascalzone Latino-Capitalia Team had a day best forgotten, losing to K-Challenge and then sailing into a dreadful shift during its second match to fall by a large margin to the German team.

A beneficiary of the tricky conditions was the French K-Challenge team. Thierry Peponnet’s squad had a hard-fought battle in the first flight to squeeze past Mascalzone-Capitalia and then took advantage when Emirates Team New Zealand sailed into a hole to slide past the Kiwis, earning an important victory over one of the top teams in the Cup.

This is the type of start the French needed, after earning just three wins in the Malmö match races. At the end of the first day in Trapani, Peponnet already has two victories to his credit.

Alinghi and BMW Oracle Racing came through the tricky conditions unscathed, while Victory Challenge looked much happier sailing SWE 63 again. These three teams join Luna Rossa and K-Challenge at the top of the table with two wins from two starts.

The presence of tennis star Juan Carlos Ferrero as 18th man didn’t help the Spanish, who didn’t score a point on the first day.

Results of the Day

Flight 1

Alinghi def. Desafío (0'50'')
Luna Rossa def. China Team (3'45'')
Victory def. +39 Challenge (1'13'')
BMW Oracle def. Team Germany (2'12'')
K-Challenge def. Mascalzone (0'13'')
Team NZ def. Shosholoza

Flight 2

Alinghi def. China Team (2'47'')
Victory def. Desafío (1'01'')
Luna Rossa def. +39 Challenge (1'47'')
Team Germany def. Mascalzone (9'46'')
K-Challenge def. Team NZ (1'45'')
BMW Oracle def. Shosholoza (1'40'')