Cold start to Louis Vuitton regatta 

Source: ReutersEmirates Team New Zealand led by skipper Dean Barker sails during the first day of the Louis Vuitton Trophy in Nice

It's sailing Jim... but not like we know it. Or rather not like we really like it.

Biking to work along the Promenade des Anglais in Nice should conjure up visions of a sunny Mediterranean beach front, swaying palms and warm summer sea breezes.

Lightly-clad sun worshippers might figure as well.

Instead, day one of racing in this Louis Vuitton regatta has been a five-layer day and I could have worn more.

It was eight degrees when I arrived at the TV compound in the port and, with the wind chill factor out on the race course, it was very cold.

The conditions have forced the wearing of some unusual head gear amongst skippers and crew, rendering some of the familiar faces unrecognisable.

Helping ward off the cold was the warm glow from seeing these amazing yachts back in action.

Yachts stretched their legs

It's the first time since the hugely successful Louis Vuitton Pacific Series in Auckland that the big America's Cup class yachts have stretched their legs, and it remains an unrivalled sight in sailing.

The boats here are an interesting mixture.

The original plan was to ship up the two pairs used in Auckland from the Emirates Team New Zealand and BMW Oracle Racing syndicates.

But time ran out and the yachts had to be sourced from Europe. Best of the bunch is probably the old Alinghi, now GBR 75 and the property of Team Origin.

It was meant to be paired with Oracle's USA 76 but they couldn't find the keel.

At first they thought it had been shipped to Auckland and was in store in Warkworth. But it turned out it had been cut up in Valencia and sold for its lead content.

So the organisers settled on one of the old French boats which has been tarted up and re-named "ALL4ONE", a new syndicate formed through the unlikely alliance of sailors from former French and German America's Cup syndicates.

At issue is making the boats even.

The Swiss-built boat was always a flier so had to be slowed down and, after experimenting with wing configurations on the keel bulbs, the shore crews settled on using sail combinations.

In certain conditions GBR 75 will sail with a heavier main calculated to make the performances level.

The other pair of boats has been supplied by Mascalzone Latino and they are reckoned to be well matched.

Sadly little has been seen of them so far because one of them was badly dinged during the final training session.

Heading for the line in a practice start triple Olympic gold medalist Jochen Schumann clipped the port quarter of the committee boat.

I was on a camera boat about 10 metres away watching the yacht's approaching angle in horror and the graunching noise was horrendous as the carbon fibre hull scraped against the steel committee boat.

In fairness to Schumann, it should be pointed out that the committee boat was not anchored because the water is too deep and it may have been moving quicker than it looked.

Outwardly the damage to the boat didn't seem too bad but the impact had in fact fractured the skin and punched out the inside of an extensive panel.

It could take three days to fix the damage which is playing havoc with the race schedule.

At least the boat builders will stay warm.