The British Athena Pathway team made history by taking victory in the opening race of the first Women’s America’s Cup.

The team is one of 12 in the inaugural women’s competition and ended the first day in second place overall after four races in Barcelona.

“It’s been an epic day, this is groundbreaking for not just women’s sailing but women’s sport in general,” said team principal and skipper Hannah Mills.

“To have opened the first ever Women’s America’s Cup with a race win is incredible.”

In what is the first women’s event in the America’s Cup’s 173-year history, Britain are up against teams from nations that have been competing in the 37th America’s Cup – New Zealand, Italy, the United States, Switzerland and France – in group A.

The racing was taking place a day after Great Britain’s Ineos Britannia team completed a 7-4 victory over Italy to win the right to compete against New Zealand for the America’s Cup trophy later this month.

Group B is made up of invited teams from Spain, the Netherlands, Canada, Germany, Sweden and Australia.

The top three teams from each group after eight races will go into a final series of four races, with the top two teams from those going into a head-to-head final race to decide the overall winner.

After their opening race success, Britain recorded a third place and two second-place finishes.

The group A teams next race on Tuesday.