Ben Ainslie Racing (GBR) became the first victims of the America's Cup demolition derby, suffering significant damage during their race against Japan off Bermuda this morning.

If they can't quickly repair their boat overnight, Team New Zealand may get a free pass for the scheduled meeting tomorrow.

As BAR and Japan jockeyed for position before the start of the final race on Day One of the qualifying series, Japan skipper Dean Barker aggressively challenged his rival for inside running and counterpart Sir Ben Ainslie did not react quickly enough.

The boats made heavy contact, with BAR incurring a split to its hull. The British were penalised, but continued around the course, eventually losing by 48 seconds.

They face a huge job fixing that damage for their next race - they have Oracle Team USA in tomorrow's third race, followed by Emirates Team New Zealand later in the day.

Rookie helmsman Peter Burling had Team New Zealand on the board early in the America's Cup qualifier series, romping home over Team France in their first race off Bermuda this morning.

At 26, Olympic 49er champion Burling is the youngest ever America's Cup helmsman, but gave wily French counterpart Franck Cammas a sailing lesson, controlling the start and rocketing away to lead by one minute 13 seconds by the third mark.

By contrast to their opponents, Emirates Team New Zealand sailed a smooth race, staying on their foils through most of their journey to eventually prevail by two minutes 33 seconds. The Kiwis had crossed the finish line before France had rounded the final mark.

"It's good to have our first race under our belts," said TNZ skipper Glenn Ashby, the only survivor from the ill-fated 2013 challenge in San Francisco.

"The boys sailed the boat very nicely. It's really nice to be out here on the Great Sound.

"Everyone is going to learning a huge amount over the next few races. We haven't done a huge amount of yachting in the last coupe of weeks, so our learning curve will be pretty steep."

The French had already been on the water earlier in the day, providing little opposition for cupholders Oracle Team.

For the first time, the defenders have been allowed to contest the challenger series as part of their build-up and Oracle showed they were already on the money.

Aussie skipper Jimmy Spithill had Oracle seven seconds ahead at the first mark and 15 up by the second, steadily increased their advantage as the race progressed.

The American team took nearly 40 seconds out of their rivals on the third leg and showed far greater control of their AC50 boat in perfect sailing conditions. While yesterday's scheduled opening day was cancelled due to winds in excess of the 24-knot upper limit, today provided 9-10 knots, ideal for foiling.

Oracle also made a fascinating call on their choice of equipment, using non-identical foils for the first time in America's Cup racing.

READ MORE: America's Cup live blog

"Perhaps this wind strength is around the crossover for their foils and so it's not a big deal which set they use and they like the advantage of having the stronger wind foil on the port side for the first reach off the start, when they travel at higher speeds," suggested NZME America's Cup commentator and former Team NZ weather guru Mark Orams.

The contest took less than 20 minutes to complete, with the champions two minutes 11 seconds ahead by the finish.

In a much closer affair between two favoured challengers, Team Sweden out-manoeuvred Japan, guided by former Team NZ skipper Dean Barker. for a 13-second victory.

Barker had his boat 17 seconds ahead at the fourth mark, but Sweden skipper Nathan Outterridge turned that deficit into a 19-second advantage by the next turn, forcing Japan off their course with a rules challenge.

"The key to that was just keeping it close the whole race," said Outteridge afterwards. "Dean seemed to misjudge that tack position and we made the most of it."

But the Swedes could not celebrate long - they were beaten by Great Britain in their second race of the day for perhaps the first real upset of the regatta.

While no-one questions the pedigree of Sir Ben Ainslie as a skipper, his team had appeared off the pace during practice racing, especially compared to Sweden.

Ben Ainslie Racing (GBR) stretched out to a 19-second margin at the fourth mark and held off their rivals for an 11-second result at the end.

-NZ Herald