Eight-times world match racing champion Ian Williams and Eric Monnin head the Bermuda Gold Cup leaderboard after an incident-packed opening day.

While the event in Hamilton Harbour started literally with a bang as Nick Egnot-Johnson collided with Ian Garetta in the second race of the opening flight, it ended with the cream rising to the top as Williams was victorious in all three of his races against Chris Poole, Egnot-Johnson and Garreta.

The English skipper was delighted to be back in Bermuda with his new team after a year’s hiatus but admitted it took time to get back into the IOD groove.

“The IODs are so much fun to sail and very challenging,” Williams said. “I wouldn’t say we’ve been particularly comfortable in them over the years but we feel that now we’ve been here 12, 13, 14 times, that we’re starting to figure it out.”

Despite his strong start to the regatta, Williams knows there is plenty to work on as the event progresses.

“There is plenty to improve upon as it’s a match racing regatta and what’s good enough on day one is never good enough on day two and certainly not later in the regatta,” he said.

“We’ll have a good debrief, work on all those details and come back stronger tomorrow.”

Monnin was beaten narrowly by Johnie Berntsson in the final here last year, losing the deciding race in the last 15 metres in a move he described as his “most stupid mistake” of the year.

The Swiss skipper got one over on Berntsson in the second flight but insisted that revenge was not on his mind.

“We didn’t remember it on the water but the mistake we did last year was so bad that it hurts every time you think of it,” Monnin said.

“But that’s sailing and sometimes you win, sometimes you lose and sometimes you make the most stupid mistakes at the worst time. That’s life and sailing is good training for life.

“We’ve had so many great races over the last years with Johnie and today we caught him at the last downwind.”

Monnin has never won the Bermuda Gold Cup but won the Congressional Cup in Long Beach in May and is hoping that is a good omen for making a breakthrough here.

“We had a great experience in the Congressional Cup,” he said.

“We had tried so many times and we finally made it. To have been so close here last year, that win is maybe releasing something in my head. We’re at the very beginning and we could still be last or first, but we’re ready to go as fast as we can.”

Garreta faced a tough baptism after being hit by Nick Egnot-Johnson in his first experience of racing in IODs and competing in Bermuda.

Both sailors were originally docked half a point for the incident but Garreta’s penalty was withdrawn after a successful appeal.

“It was such a tough race because Nick got a penalty at the start but he came back faster and stronger so there was a situation at the upwind mark,” he said.

“Nick tried to get his penalty down by turning around us and there wasn’t enough room so there was contact but I am pleased my points deduction was removed.”

The 24-year-old is the second-youngest skipper at the event and picked up two wins as he faced the challenge of racing an unfamiliar boat.

“It’s nice to start with two wins because it’s our first time here and yesterday was our first time on an IOD,” he said.

“The boats are so different to what we are used to sailing and we made a huge mistake in the last race and lost by a mile, but it was a good day.

“The weight of the boat is challenging. Our mistake in the last match was to try to tack to get closer to our opponent but if you know the boat, know how they turn and how much time they need to build the speed, it was total nonsense. We learnt a lot from that match.”

Defending champion Berntsson, chasing a hat-trick at the regatta, will need to bounce back from a disappointing first day after picking up only one win.