Hopes were dashed but not extinguished yesterday on Hamilton Harbour after the two Bermuda teams competing in the Argo Group Gold Cup came up scoreless after three races each.

For veteran competitor Blythe Walker and his RenaissanceRe team, a reversal of fortune in two of his three races in which he lost his lead set the team back to 0-3 going into racing today.

On a difficult day for the home team, Walker was ahead of both former World Tour Champion Ian Williams of Great Britain, and Torvar Mirsky of Australia, second overall in the 2009 World Match Racing Tour, for much of those two races.

However, a shifting and changeable breeze in the inner harbour meant that Walker was in the wrong place at the wrong time – twice – when the wind shifted and his opponents pedalled ahead.

"We had two great starts against both Williams and Mirsky and in both races we led all the way around the course," said a somewhat dejected Walker.

"In what sometimes happens on Hamilton Harbour, the trailing boat got a private breeze and simply powered past us. In the second race, particularly, Mirsky took a hitch back and got a pot shot at wind pressure that we didn't have.

"That sort of breeze sometimes drops out of nowhere and Mirsky and Williams both did a nice job taking advantage of it and closing the distance. Having that happen twice in a row made the second race particularly heartbreaking."

"In the third race, I was trailing and got that same breeze but it was too little, too late," Walker said after losing to Alvaro Marinho of Portugal. "I can't say that I have ever started the Gold Cup at 0-3 and there is no room for mistakes anymore."

Although disappointed by day one, Walker can still score points over the next two days to reach the quarter-finals.

A strong debut by 17-year old Bermuda schoolboy Lance Fraser – the youngest ever in Gold Cup history – did not net any points on the scoreboard but the teenager did force a penalty on three-time Olympic gold medallist Ben Ainslie of Great Britain right out of the gate in his first ever Group Gold Cup competition.

Fraser and his team had a strong start against Ainslie but the Olympian was able to slowly close the gap and erase his penalty to take the first race.

In the second race against New Zealander Adam Minoprio, who is in second place on the World Match Racing Tour, Minoprio's aggressive, classic match racing pre-start manoeuvres put Fraser slightly behind but he stayed in the hunt throughout the race and lost by a mere seven seconds.

His third and final race of the day against Swiss veteran match racer Eric Monnin was a setback for Fraser as he incurred a penalty at the start which left him finishing 0-3 overall for the day. Yet, his overall performance, boat handling and the team's sailing skills were notable even among the highly rated competition.

Minoprio, who was impressed by the calibre of the team, said after the race, "I think Lance needs some more experience in the pre-starts. You have to avoid getting caught by the other opponent there, but overall they are a great sailors with a lot of potential."

"We actually felt very good today,' Fraser said. "Forcing a penalty on Ben Ainslie at the start and staying very close to the top sailors in the world during each race was a great feeling.

"When you are seven seconds behind one of the best in the world it feels like an overall success for us. I made some mistakes in the pre-starts, I don't think we will change our strategy for tomorrow."