Rafael Trujillo. mainsail trimmer, +39, on the first day of racing for his team:
We finished the races, and it's great. We had a lot of problems to trim the boat and we have only spent eight days sailing together. Five of our crew members haven't sailed on a bigger boat than a Finn!
Xavier Rohart, tactician, +39, on his day:
This has been quite a positive first day. We used the races today to make speed tests, and practice our manoeuvres but we tried to limit our tacks because we don't have very many foresails so we wanted to be careful. The only negative point is that we don't have any electronics on board, which means we don't have information about the wind, our bearing or our speed…And the tactical analysis of the race course was not easy - I thought it would be simpler. It reminded me of the Olympics in Athens.
Juan Vila, navigator, Team Alinghi, on being at the top of the leaderboard after race one:
With these conditions you can't take anything for granted. It's tough to stay in the lead.
James Spithill, helmsman, Luna Rossa, on finally racing some opposition:
I look around the boat today and I feel a big weight has been lifted off the guys' shoulders. Today some of the pressure came off.
Iain Percy, helmsman, +39, on winning the start against Alinghi:
We won by virtue of them getting it wrong rather than us getting it right. It's all by accident rather than design at the moment.
Gavin Brady, helmsman BMW ORACLE Racing, on a tough start against Luna Rossa:
It's one of those lessons, like: Don't walk out in front of a bus. Some lessons in life you're going to learn the hard way, and we learned one of those again today…It feels like it takes a whole leg to get back up to speed. Of course it doesn't but it still takes a full minute in light breeze.
Cameron Appleton, afterguard, K-Challenge, on youth versus experience:
It's taking us a long time to catch up to the older generation, because experience counts for a lot in this game. It's not like other sports where you can get in quick like tennis, it takes time.
Grant Dalton, CEO of Emirates Team New Zealand, comparing Cup racing with ocean racing:
This is more fun. You see results quickly. I love the racing here, it's cut and thrust. But I still haven't lost my love of round-the-world racing.
Thierry Peponnet, skipper, K-Challenge, describing his day:
Our first objective was to win against LE DEFI and we have achieved it. Second was staying close to Emirates Team New Zealand, which was more difficult. They have an advantage in speed and the distance to us was bigger than we expected. To stay close to the big teams, you need to be perfect in all areas, take many risks at the start and really be more aggressive.
