The cream rose to the top early on day one of the Aspen Re Women’s Match Racing Regatta with Anna Ostling the only skipper to remain unbeaten.

Ostling, who competed in last year’s Bermuda Gold Cup after winning the 2023 World Match Racing Tour, won all three of her flights against Kristine Mauritzen, Juliet Costanzo and this season’s World Match Racing leader Pauline Courtois, from France.

The Swedish skipper is no stranger to success in Bermuda with her WINGS team, who have been nominated for World Sailing’s team of the year, and she is delighted to be back on the island.

“It’s so good to be here and I love this place,” Ostling said.

“I’m trying to figure out a way to live here so if anybody wants to hire me, I’m up for it.

“It was definitely controlled chaos out there today and I’m sure most of the girls can relate today to the chaotic feeling on board when it’s breezy, puffy, shifty, but it’s so much fun, we love being back here.

“We so enjoy stepping into a boat and solving the chaos and just working together as a team and how to handle a boat quick, that’s what we love.”

One of the regatta’s flights did end in chaos with the Australian crew led by Juliet Costanzo getting hooked up to their opponents, with the boat suffering minor damage.

“To be honest I’m still figuring out what happened,” Costanzo said.

“Race three, we were going downwind and we felt we were quite far away from the boat going upwind. It was quite a long distance but that didn’t really mean a thing when the massive puff came.

“We had a bit of a roll and our backstay and their top sheath where their backstay comes out got hooked. It was a big turn and I’ve never seen these boats turn so fast, I didn’t think they could. I’m just glad everybody is OK and that there was not too much damage.”

Julia Aartsen, who is one of four women who can be crowned season champion made a good start to the regatta, picking up two wins, which is all the more remarkable considering it was her first time in an IOD

“It was difficult and in Holland we don’t have these boats so we needed to try to train in a boat that’s a bit similar,” Aartsen said.

“So we trained in a Dragon, but when we stepped into these boats, it’s still quite different, more rolling but it was super cool.

“We trained only in the morning yesterday and we are still learning. Today was totally different than yesterday, the weather was way and we also noticed that every boat is a bit different and we need to adapt to that as well, but it makes it challenging.”

New Zealand’s Megan Thomson ended the first day with one win as she encountered Bermuda waters for the first time, but the experience was far tougher than she anticipated.

“It was definitely more challenging than we expected,” she said.

“We knew it was going to be hard but it was even harder. It’s a cool venue and day one we are learning and we’re learning fast, but I’m glad it’s a long week.”

There is a quick turnaround for the Women’s Match Racing Regatta with flights four to seven taking place on Wednesday morning from 9.30am.