With the 28 mile coastal race offering double points there was no room for errors today at the Trofeo Alicante, the first event of the 2007 Breitling MedCup circuit which has attracted 23 TP52's. The two boats which topped the leaderboard suffered their own costly problems. Artemis the Swedish boat skippered by three times America's Cup skipper Russell Coutts built a lead of over two and half minutes around the inshore course that took the fleet out from Alicante Bay around the Tabarca islands. But on the downwind sprint to the finish Artemis failed to pass to starboard of the final mark of the course before crossing the finish line and was subsequently disqualified from the race. Coutts protested for the jury's interpretation of the sailing instructions and Notice of Race who maintained they made a mistake and Artemis was reinstated as first for the first part of the race. The problems for series leaders, Ian Walker and the crew of Patches, were in their mainsail halyard lock that malfunctioned on the first beat.
