Just one day into the King Edward VII Gold Cup proper and some of the big names are already packing their bags for home.

The surprise which rippled through the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club yesterday with the early exits of former Gold Cup winner Peter Holmberg and world match-racing champion Ed Baird could have turned to outright shock though as rival America's Cup skippers Russell Coutts and Dean Barker were stretched to five races in the first round.

For Coutts it was a see-saw start to his bid for a seventh title in Hamilton Harbour as he was comfortably 2-0 up against his New Zealand countryman Cameron Dunn when things went drastically awry.

A penalty at the start of race three scuppered Coutts' dreams of three-straight wins and another penalty in the fourth race helped Dunn to 2-2.

In the deciding fifth race the skippers were neck-and-neck - both being flagged for penalties at the top mark - until the first downwind leg of the three-lap race when things got even crazier as one of Dunn's crew was struck in the head by the boom as their boat tossed about in 25-knot gusts.

This mishap forced Dunn to abandon the race - which Coutts eventually won - as he sought to ensure the welfare of his jib trimmer, Brett Jones. The latter was rushed to hospital suffering a slight concussion and a bruised right jaw.

"It was a pity but at the end of the day we've got to look after the wellbeing of the crew. Brett took a really bad hit so we had to bail out unfortunately. It would have been nice to still be out there battling," said Dunn.

On a positive note, the 31-year-old agreed it was a good effort to rebound from 2-0 down after a slow start.

Coutts, however, was displeased by his team's showing.

"It's always good to get some more time in these boats and we maximised our time that's for sure," said the 41-year-old, alluding to being extended to five races.

"We'll have to sail a lot better than we did today if we're going to win this.

"I didn't think we sailed very well in any of the races, including the last one. We'll have to sharpen our act for the rest of the regatta."

Barker, too, had his hands full with Baird who took the first race off him before Barker went up 2-1.

Baird won the fourth race and was in the fifth until the second lap when Barker pulled away for an easy win.

"It was a really tough race. Ed sailed well during the qualifier and we knew he was going to be hard but we are pleased with the way we sailed," said the Barker.

The Auckland resident noted that the knockout format allows everyone a chance, especially since "no-one here is a bad sailor".

Saying things just "didn't work out today", Baird explained tricky winds were a key factor.

"It was just trying to figure out which was the right way to go. It was very deceptive.

"The right always looked better and the left always worked. So it was hard. Every race was won by the boat that got to the left-hand side," noted the American.

Others advancing to tomorrow's quarter-finals were Danish defending champion Jesper Radich who beat Italy's Paolo Cian 3-0; Australia's Peter Gilmour (3-1 over Staffan Lindberg of Finland); New Zealand's Chris Dickson who swept Jenny Axhede of Sweden 3-0 and Bill Hardesty who eliminated Holmberg 3-1.

"It feels great. We went out there with a clear head and sailed as well as we could.

"We had some good moves in the starts and we were able to draw some penalties," said Hardesty of his triumph over the 2001 Gold Cup winner.

Assessing his chances, the American noted he has nothing to lose being the underdog and will approach each race in that vein.

"We don't care who we're going against, we just put our best foot forward and keep swinging," declared the 28-year-old.

Virgin Islander Holmberg admitted making "some mistakes in my manoeuvres and some bad judgements". His opponent, he added, "sailed well and deserved the victory".

A smiling Radich attributed his success to really good starts - which gave him control of his races - and good spinnaker sets and boat handling.

As he charts a course towards a second successive championship here, the 28-year-old noted: "Of course we can improve but we are definitely on the right track now."