Day 1, Group A, Race 1 – Red Bull Italy left nothing to chance at the start of Group A's opening race in Valencia. Phil Robertson found clear air off the line, rounded Mark 1 first and was never headed again, leading home a fleet that was down to six boats before the start gun had even fired.
Artemis undone by a broken halyard
Artemis's race ended before it began. With the clock inside a minute and a half to the start, the jib halyard let go on board, the line that hoists the sail up the forestay failing after 45 minutes of clean practice laps. Driver Nathan Outteridge, back for his second event since an ankle injury, called for a delay while the crew dropped the sail and tried to rehoist it. Race officials granted two minutes. It wasn't enough. Artemis never made the start line and were recorded as a did-not-start.
New Zealand's Black Foils were called over the line early and had to peel away to serve the penalty before racing began in earnest, leaving Peter Burling's crew chasing from the back of the fleet for the rest of the leg. Seconds after the gun, Mubadala Brazil, sailing on windward, made contact with BONDS Flying Roos on leeward and copped an immediate penalty for the foul. Martine Grael's crew served it inside seconds and lost almost no ground.
Robertson nails the start, and the race is gone
Robertson found the space he needed at the top of the box, crossing the line with clear air and a straight run to the top mark while the rest of the fleet was still working through manoeuvres behind him. Tom Slingsby's BONDS Flying Roos, the reigning championship leaders, were the best of the chasers, rounding Mark 1 second and 9.7 seconds back. Emirates GBR, under Dylan Fletcher, followed in third.
From there it became a match-racing exercise. Slingsby matched every manoeuvre Robertson made a beat behind him, but the disturbed air off the Italian wing was enough to keep the gap open. Red Bull Italy's lead had stretched past 17 seconds by the third gate and held there to the finish.
Brazil profit as GBR gambles on the left
The battle for the minor placings turned on one tactical call. Approaching the top gate, Emirates GBR took the left-hand turn while the rest of the fleet went right, a call that promised fewer manoeuvres up the beat but cost real speed in the execution. Mubadala Brazil, sailing in the disturbed air off the British transom, took the simpler route to the right and held its pace, closing the gap all the way to the finish, a result the broadcast team flagged as one of Brazil's best in some time.
The photo finish went to Fletcher. Coming into the final gate, Brazil held right of way over both Emirates GBR and Explora Journeys Swiss, and as the three boats converged the margin came down to centimetres, an overlap call at the zone that could have gone either way. Race management ruled no penalty, confirming GBR had been inside and overlapped at the mark. Fletcher's crew held on to take fourth, nipping ahead of Sébastien Schneiter's Swiss boat by the width of a bowsprit.
Black Foils never recovered the ground lost to the early penalty, rounding every mark at the back and crossing the line last of the six boats that started.
Result
Race 1 result (Group A): 1. Red Bull Italy (Phil Robertson), 2. BONDS Flying Roos (Tom Slingsby), 3. Mubadala Brazil (Martine Grael), 4. Emirates Great Britain (Dylan Fletcher), 5. Explora Journeys Swiss (Sébastien Schneiter), 6. Black Foils (Peter Burling), DNS: Artemis (Nathan Outteridge)
