Sailing/ MedCup:Eamon Conneely's Patches was unceremoniously dumped from the overall leader's position of the Breitling MedCup yesterday as the high-scoring coastal race dominated the season's opening regatta.

The four-hour race started in light airs of around 10 knots though the fleet of 23 TP52-footers soon powered away to the windward mark before tacking for the offshore island of Tabarca, rounded to port before a breakway set for a fast spinnaker leg back to the finish off Alicante's port.

But just minutes after the start, the mainsail halyard and halyard lock gave way and the Galway yacht soon fell to the back of the fleet as she was obliged to drop the sail to effect a repair.

Bowman Freddie Shanks climbed aloft where he spent much of the race to maintain the repair job that allowed them to continue. After 20 miles, skipper Ian Walker with helm Tim Powell had coaxed the new 52-footer to 18th place.

The freshening breeze gradually saw them improve to 13th by the finish though the double-points scoring for this race had already taken its toll and Patches lost its overall lead to take eighth place overnight.

It seemed triple America's Cup winner Russell Coutts had Sweden's Artemis in a commanding lead but was later disqualified for missing a mark on the course. Controversially, Coutts challenged the international jury and succeeded in getting half the race reinstated. However, in his turn for a dose of bad fortune, the Kiwi lost the overall lead and dropped to sixth place while Gallician entry Caixa moved to the head of the fleet. The development was good news for Patches who now trail first place by just 13 points.

Today sees a second coastal course which again offers double-points. Redemption beckons but the reality is this regatta effectively restarts for all but the back-markers as today also sees the race discard come into force. But the twist of fate for Patches and Artemis is that rules prevent the coastal race from being discarded, effectively reopening the gate to possibly 10 challengers.