Australia on top but France impresses on Day 1 of SailGP Sydney

SYDNEY (AP) - Australia won two of four races on the first day of its home SailGP event on Sydney Harbour on Saturday to finish the day atop the points table ahead of Britain and a French team which made an outstanding return after missing the first two events of the season..

The Australians also had a third and a second placing and finished the day with 37 points ahead of Britain with 32 points and France with 27. Britain won the second race of the day and Switzerland, which won the first race, was in fourth place overall.

Australia’s prowess in the start box was again the key to its success as it won the starts of races two, three and four.

"I don’t know what’s going on with our starts but it’s all gelling," Australian driver Tom Slingsby said. “You need a bit of luck and we’ve had a bit of luck. Little gaps have opened up at the right time.

"Sometimes it just clicks. We’re in a little purple patch at the moment and we hope we can continue it on."

Conditions were tricky throughout the day. While the sea state generally was flat, a storm cell sitting over the Sydney suburbs produced some sharp wind shifts which caused dramatic racing.

"It was a lot nicer when we got a bit clear,” Australian strategist Natasha Bryant said. "It was super tight course and there were some crazy angles when it’s so shifty so there was a lot going on sometimes."

The French made a superb return to racing after missing events in Dubai in November and Auckland last month because of trouble with their wing sail. They won the start of the first race and had second, third, fourth and eighth placings to finish the day in third place.

"It was wonderful being back here in Sydney in good conditions," driver Quentin Delapierre said.

The surprise of the day was New Zealand which was expected to challenge Australia but had a seventh, eighth and two last placings to finish the day in ninth place. The New Zealanders were beset throughout the day by technical problems.

There will be three more fleet races on Sunday before the top three teams meet in the event final.

The Sydney event was expected to be the first in SailGP history to see a full fleet of 12 boats with the return of France but the United States was forced to miss Day One after sustaining damage in a capsize in practice, leaving the fleet again at 11 boats.

Switzerland picked a wind shift to win the first race from Spain and Australia.

"It’s super-good racing," Swiss driver Sébastien Schneiter said. "We’re just keeping it simple, keeping it clean and trying to get a good start."

Britain won the second race after what driver Dylan Fletcher called "a ding-dong battle" with Australia. And Australia led from start to finish in both races three and four.