Both Victory Challenge and Alinghi were the overall stars yesterday – the opening day of the fleet racing regattas in Valencia.

The techniques for fleet racing are radically different from those of the one-on-one races, for with twelve giants each weighing about 24 tons in the water, both strategy and tactically.

In the first race yesterday, Victory Challenge undertook an almost perfect strategy, managing to control the entire race from the start – much to the delight of Sebastian Coe – the President of the Olympic Committee for the 2012 London Games – who was crew member 18 on board the craft.

Also in the first race, Mascalzone Latino and + 39 effectively managed to steal the third place from the Emirates team. The first race also showed that the ‘ big four’ did not do as well as expected, with Alinghi finishing in sixth position and BMW Oracle in the ninth spot, whilst Luna Rossa, despite an excellent start, were penalized during the race.

The second fleet race of the day saw Alinghi regain their form, dominating the match from the start, whilst the China Team made a magnificent start, but later became ensnared in penalties, whilst Alinghi, at first just thirteen seconds in front of Luna Rossa managed to increase their lead by almost two minutes by the time the race ended.

Overall yesterday, of the four biggest syndicates, only Alinghi managed to emerge with their heads held high; BMW Oracle made some bad tactical errors in both races, and Emirates Team New Zealand along with Luna Rossa ended up fairly low down the points table enabling smaller syndicates to jump in with the exception of the Spanish Challenge who were consistent throughout.

All in all Act 11 should promise a really tight end result .

Results