“The conditions were pretty tricky out there this afternoon.

We’ve got really big waves, the whole fleet got stuck out here on the J1’s which made the boats tricky to sail.

It was definitely quite out of balance; we were in full survival mode for that race.

”With the Race Committee instructing the fleet to change down to the smaller J3 jibs, fleet race two got underway with the French and Swiss teams both ordered not to sail due to technical issues onboard their boats.

Off the start, Emirates Team New Zealand held the lead with Italy and USA close, but a splashdown on the first downwind brought an end to their challenge.

Luna Rossa strode into the lead but it was tenuous, and American Magic were chasing hard.

On what became the penultimate leg of the course, and with both boats locked in a match-race as the wind peaked at 18 knots, American Magic nailed the starboard layline out by the right boundary, and with speeds in excess of 30 knots, took the lead and held it to the finish, with Kyle Navin and Harry Melges crossing the line at 40 knots.

Amazing sailing from all the teams.

It’s all square at the top of the standings with NYYC American Magic and Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli tied on points, whilst also sharing third are Emirates Team New Zealand and Athena Pathway.

Harry Melges, skipper of NYYC American Magic, beamed as he came ashore, saying: “The racing was really awesome.

It was extremely difficult for us.

The first race when the wind came in was quite bumpy and we were on the J1 still which kind of threw the boat out of balance pretty good and made it quite tricky to sail.

Then race two got even windier and wavier but we had the correct sails up and it was wild-ride racing, really fun.

”Talking about overtaking the Italians upwind, Melges added: “That gave us a lot of confidence and now we’ve got two races down, we’ve got what it takes and we’re going to keep battling for the rest of the regatta.

We definitely like to send it at American Magic.

”Marco Gradoni, skipper of Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli, meanwhile praised his team saying: “It was just amazing to race and I’m really proud of the boys because it was really difficult, especially downwind it was crazy passing through the waves.

I’m really proud of the boys because they’re less experienced than me but they learn super-fast, and we know we can be better.

”The UniCredit Youth America’s Cup is off to a high-adrenaline start and is all set to be a thriller right to the bitter end.

Tomorrow will see two races, starting from 11:00 CET with two Group A (America’s Cup Team) races scheduled.