Sailing: Reality check sinks Britain

While Ian Walker and the crew of Peter Harrison's GBR Challenge would not have expected to overwhelm OneWorld, the form team of the Louis Vuitton Cup challenger trial, yesterday, the talk beforehand was all about giving the Seattle-based team a good race. The reality could not have been more different.

The British crew went into yesterday's race with their expectations high after reflections on their defeat by Team Dennis Conner's Stars & Stripes on Tuesday led to the conclusion that GBR 70, a boat from a design team with very little America's Cup experience, was at least on the pace and at times quicker than Conner's boat.

But yesterday OneWorld showed the class borne out of three years in the game, and of having several people with knowledge of winning the cup with Team New Zealand. The young Australian James Spithill got the better of the GBR starting helmsman, Andy Green, in the prestart and lured him into clipping the stern of OneWorld with the bow of Wight Lightning, which meant the British boat had to execute a 360-degree penalty turn during the race.

"We thought they were early and that we could try and force them over the line, but I didn't allow them room to keep clear," said Green ruefully. "As they turned the boat there was just the tiniest of contacts. After that they seemed to be a bit quicker than us around the course."

A loss to OneWorld would not have been an embarrassment, but as skipper Ian Walker came ashore he conceded their second racing encounter was "not a good day". Particularly since, on the other course, Stars & Stripes, with whom GBR had enjoyed such a close encounter, were beaten skilfully by the Swedish Victory Challenge, a long-term rival of GBR Challenge.

Elsewhere on the course Prada finally won a race, sailing away from the French on Le Defi, whose crew-work was in such disarray that they ripped a spinnaker, trawled it in the water and had to cut it loose before retiring. And Alinghi made easy work of Mascalzone Latino, tying them in knots on the start line and disappearing over the horizon.

In general, while the sailors are all cautious in drawing early conclusions, a pattern is already beginning to emerge here. OneWorld are classy and fast, Alinghi are in the ballpark, though Russell Coutts lost his first America's Cup race in seven years when he couldn't find a way past OneWorld on Friday. Oracle are impressive and Prada are shaky – the sacking of design director Doug Peterson compounded the rumours of disquiet in the camp that had blown up over the ignominious demotion of Gavin Brady from the sailing team.

At the other end of the scale, Le Defi and Mascalzone Latino are both showing every sign of living up to their pre-match rating – poor – and will be fighting not to be first home out of the round-robin stage at the end of this month.

Which leaves a compelling battle for the middle ground with GBR, Stars & Stripes and Victory Challenge all looking for an edge over each other. Right now GBR are on the back foot in that contest: Victory have sailed two, won two, Stars & Stripes sailed three and won two and GBR Challenge have sailed two and lost two. If Sunday in New Zealand does not end with a British win over the French, the GBR Challenge will be in real trouble. But no one really expects that.

There is much of a positive nature to be drawn from the last week, and speedwise they are living up to their pre-series billing. What the team badly need are a few points.