It is often said a picture is worth a thousand words. And nothing better encapsulates yesterday’s painfully light and shifty conditions that plagued the opening day of the $100,000 Argo Group Gold Cup than the sight of one of Ian Williams’ crew using a paddle to move the boat.Only one of the scheduled nine flights was completed in Hamilton Harbour, meaning race officials will have to play catch-up to ensure the World Match Racing Tour sanctioned regatta remains on schedule when racing resumes today.At the end of a day race officials and sailors alike would probably rather quickly forget, top seeds Jesper Radich (Denmark), Staffan Lindberg (Finland), Bjorn Hansen (Sweden) and Francesco Bruni (Italy) remained unbeaten in their respective Group One flights.Radich beat Bermuda’s Blythe Walker, Lindberg got the better of Aussie Keith Swinton, Hansen prevailed against Jordan Reece (Australia), while WMRT championship contender Francesco Bruni got past Poland’s Jakub Pawluk.In addition to coping with the adverse conditions, Bruni, who is making his Gold Cup debut this year, also had his hands full acclimatising to the International One Design sloop.“Obviously this is my first time in Bermuda and I’m still trying to get used to the boats,” he said. “They are obviously heavy boats but the kind of boats I like, so hopefully it will take a little less time to get used to.”Hansen, who has competed in the Gold Cup since 1999, got his campaign off on solid ground but not before enduring some tense moments during the starting sequence against teenage rival Reece.“We thought he would hit both us and the committee boat,” he said, “but he missed and we had to give it our all to stay in front of him.“Jordan sailed the boat pretty well and managed to come out from a pretty bad situation in the pre-start quite well.”Yesterday’s start of racing was held up for nearly three hours because of a passing front that blew in from the southwest and two cargo ships that dissected the racecourse.Race officials eventually managed to complete the full quota of Group One matches in the first flight. But racing was suspended yet again as a passenger liner made its way to the docks and would never resume as the winds completely dropped out.With little hope of seeing some action, teams in the remaining two groups were eventually sent home early.Attempts were made to get the final two scheduled flights in Group One completed.However, the sailing Gods apparently had other thoughts in mind as the winds never filled back in, forcing race officials to throw in the towel for good.Today’s forecast calls for 12-18 knot breezes that will gradually increase heading into the weekend.“Unlike today we are crossing our fingers we will have good breeze for the rest of the week,” commented regatta chairman Brian Billings.Race officials plan to stage four flights in each group today, starting with Groups Two and Three.