The five America’s Cup teams based in Bermuda will size each other up in their AC Class yachts for the first time on the Great Sound today.

Today’s practice races mark the first time that the teams will effectively compete against each other in their AC50 foiling catamarans.

The last time the teams based here took part in practice racing was last month in the AC45S turbo, which is a test platform for the slightly larger AC50.

Land Rover BAR were the first to launch their AC50 here last month and were soon followed by American Defender Oracle Team USA, Softbank Team Japan, Artemis Racing and Groupama Team France.

Emirates Team New Zealand, the sixth and final team involved in the 35th America’s Cup, also launched their AC50 last month at their home port in Auckland.

Meanwhile, Land Rover BAR resumed sailing in their AC Class yacht Rita yesterday, for the first time since it collided with a floating dock near the team’s base at the Royal Naval Dockyard on their return from a test sail. The wing-sail catamaran caught a puff and reacted quicker than the crew and it crashed into the dock. The incident was caught on video and went viral on social media.

Team officials have yet to comment on the mishap.

With four-times Olympic gold medallist and two-times King Edward VI Gold Cup winner Sir Ben Ainslie at the helm, the British Challenger’s boat was put through its paces on the Great Sound yesterday.

To avoid any further mishaps, the crew were extra careful backing the boat away from the dock in puffy west winds gusting above 18 knots out on the Great Sound. Rita was in the shelter of the team sheds at Dockyard and had to back away into the puffs coming over the roofs. A powerboat alongside helped guide them around until the bow pointed off the wind and Ainslie was able to steer safely out of the harbour.