Robertson beats the boys

Tense final light wind day on Lake Lugano at the iShares Cup

Glorious sunshine, torrential rain, hair-raising gusts and mirror-like calm - the first event of the iShares Cup at Lake Lugano in Switzerland had it all, but it was the sole female sailor of the fleet, Shirley Robertson, who came out on top to win by 10 points.

"For a three day event I feel like we've been racing for a fortnight, I'm quite exhausted," said JPMorgan Asset Management skipper Shirley Robertson after the last race. "Today was quite hard work, it felt like we didn't really get any breaks or sail all that well. Then waiting to see if there was going to be a last race or whether they were going to call it off, the nerves have been going today.

"But I'm absolutely thrilled, my team's done a fantastic job. It's a pleasure to sail with them and fantastic to sail with new tactician Chris Main, he hardly put a foot wrong. Really enjoyed it and can't wait till the next one!"

After winning five races over the first two days, the double Olympic gold medallist and her crew of tactician Chris Main, Nick Hutton and Fraser Brown went into the final day of racing with a 15 point lead over British America's Cup challengers TeamOrigin but things got off to a surprising start in the first race of day three when JPMorgan Asset Management followed the fleet home in last place and were disqualified after failing to complete the course within the time limit in the zephyr-light breezes. TeamOrigin, helmed by 2007 iShares Cup champion Rob Greenhalgh, came home in fourth to pile the pressure on for the overall title, while Nick Moloney's BT took the race win.

After a postponement which saw several crews cooling off from the scorching sunshine with a swim in Lake Lugano, it was America's Cup defenders Alinghi who rediscovered their form in Race 9, pulling off a tactical stunt that saw them come within inches of the shoreline to steal a winning angle to the second mark and then lead convincingly all the way home.

But all eyes were on the battle between JPMorgan Asset Management and TeamOrigin - Shirley Roberston's crew had to take a penalty turn at the second mark, slowing the boat right down, while TeamOrigin were back in seventh place. JPMorgan Asset Management recovered to finish in fifth place as TeamOrigin followed them home in sixth. After an anxious wait to see if the wind would refill for a 10th race, the race committee signalled three hoots marking an end all racing - followed by cheers from the crew on JPMorgan Asset Management who had won the first event of the 2008 iShares Cup Sailing Series. Their victory brings an end to Greenhalgh's winning streak - he won every event on the iShares Cup last year.

TeamOrigin were 10 points behind in second place overall, while Nick Moloney and the crew on BT climbed the leaderboard on the final day to finish third. Chris Draper's Oman Sail took fourth overall, while Alinghi ended a run of consistent results (on the final two days) in the top half with a win to finish fifth overall - showing they are still in contention for the overall iShares Cup prize.

Next stop Hyères, 13-15 June.