Major dramas on the Solent

Crash and burn antics for the Extreme 40 catamarans on day one of the iShares Cup event in Cowes

The first day of racing for the Extreme 40s at the iShares Cup in Cowes was one of high adrenalin - the boats racing in winds that built to around 18-20 knots and a seastate wipped up by the wind against tide. But the result was also carnage with three capsizes and one serious collision.

Franck Cammas at the helm of one of the two BMW Oracle Racing Extreme 40s, got things off to a flying start by winning the first iShares Cup race from his team's nemesis, America's Cup defenders Alinghi. He followed up to make it a double victory in race two, followed home by his BMW Oracle Racing team mate James Spithill, who had looked a little lacklustre in race one.

In between races two and three a dark squall came through the fleet - Team Aqua pitchpoled as they tried to bear away, spinning over on one hull and smashing their rig. In attempting to rescue their corporate guest who was trapped under the netting skipper Alistair Richardson got trapped by the boom, an episode that resulted in his heading to hospital, although he was later released without having sustained serious injury.

Current series leaders TeamOrigin with Rob Greenhalgh at the helm came to the fore in the third race, to win from Franck Cammas. But Cammas' run of luck was to come to an end in the next when he attempted to find space on the approach to the weather mark and crunched into the side of BT, leaving Cammas' boat with a smashed bowsprint and crumpled front beam, and Nick Moloney's BT boat with a gaping hole in the port side. "It was like being in a pinball machine!" recalled Moloney later. (See photos of the carnage here)

To towards the end of proceedings the wind was gusting up to 25 knots and in race four TeamOrigin was next to bury their bows in the lumpy Solent seas and capsize. Fortunately the British America's Cup team including Mike Sanderson and Sir Keith Mills (who earlier in the day had been racing on board) in their smart new RIB we able to throw their Extreme 40 a line and righted the boat (see images of this here).

Greenhalgh and his team were soon followed by James Spithill on the other BMW Oracle Racing boat, allowing Alinghi to steal the lead in the race.

The day's dramatic events leave Alinghi in the overall lead, just one point ahead of Holmatro - who had a consistent set of top four results. After an exhausting day on the water many crews now have a long night ahead of them repairing damaged boats, and nursing some bumps and scrapes although none of the sailors suffered any serious injury.