After conceding two race wins to Realteam Sailing yesterday, Yann Guichard and the young crew on Spindrift, headed up by tactician Yann Jauvin, bounced back with full force today, winning three out of a possible four races sailed.

In each, the fleet was compact on the race course, with the top four boats all coming into the mark roundings within seconds of each other: "We had some battles with Spindrift," explained Realteam Sailing's tactician Sébastien Col. "I think we can be a little bit faster upwind. We've seen a few things from the others like Spindrift and Ylliam XII - Comptoir Immobilier, who appear to have better speed than us and seem more stable. That's our focus for tomorrow."

In a steady 12-15 knot Ora breeze and on flat water, today's racing was fast, with the TF35s regularly reaching 17 knots upwind to 30 knots downwind, even in the first two races of the day, which were sailed with a reef for the first time.

Reefing the sails has presented another challenge to the teams during racing. Although the TF35 is easier to handle upwind in the stronger breeze, downwind things get a little more complicated with higher angles and the chance for more mistakes when gybing, which calls for the crew to adapt to a new way of handling the boat with the different sail configuration. Overall, the feeling on the dock is positive, and the reef should enable the fleet to race in the stronger breeze, which may be the case in Malcesine.

In the single race Spindrift didn't win today, Realteam were ready to take the victory, closely followed by Ylliam XII - Comptoir Immobilier, who snatched second place from Guichard's team in a spectacular photo finish.

Continuing the consistent form from yesterday, Guy de Picciotto's ZEN Too added another four fourth-place finishes to their scoreline. However, both Ylliam 17 and Alinghi Red Bull Racing suffered breakdowns today, resulting in deep results for the new crews, with Ylliam 17 a DNF (did not finish) in Race 4 and Alinghi experiencing an electrical problem, forcing them to retire after Race 3.

In the overall standings, Spindrift is leading but tied on seven points with Realteam Sailing, while Ylliam XII - Comptoir Immobilier is another seven points behind in third. ZEN Too have a six-point gap to bridge if they want to break up the podium, but with two days and a possible ten races left to sail, it is still within reach.

Racing continues tomorrow from 13:00CET.