When Olympic sailing legend Ben Ainslie announced he was going to launch an America’s Cup team many wondered whether he could successfully take his skills to the world of multi-hulls.

Just weeks after claiming his fourth Olympic gold in London, Ainslie came to San Francisco for August’s America’s Cup World Series races and struggled. On Thursday, at the second AC World Series stop in San Francisco, Ainslie showed he has quickly learned his lessons.

Sailing in 15-knot winds, Ainslie’s J.P. Morgan BAR crew won the first race by 17 seconds and followed it up with a third in the second race to lead the series with the high score of 21 points.

Five points behind in a three-way tie for second is Oracle Team USA Spithill, winner of the second race, Artemis Racing – Red skippered by Nathan Outteridge, which scored a pair of fourths, and Oracle Team USA Coutts which had third and fifth place finishes.

“We had a nice start and a good first race with Nathan and Team New Zealand. We hung on and are delighted to get our first win in this series,” Ainslie said. “It comes down to practice and time in the boat, just like anything else. If you don’t train and put the effort in you’re not going to get the results.”

Spithill, who won the August AC World Series San Francisco, was disappointed with his eighth place finish in race one. He said a bad start and a few mistakes around the racecourse cost him in the opening race, but he rebounded in the second race to win going away by 37 seconds.

“It was good to get that one under our belt. The boys were fired up after the first race and they ground us up into a sizable lead,” said Spithill. “Any team here can win. The boats are the same and it comes down to the team that sails well. Ben did a fantastic job and deserves to be leading. He sailed very well.”

Outteridge, sailing his first fleet races with Artemis Racing, showed the steady hand he’s shown in the past by scoring a pair of fourths.

“We had two really good starts,” said Outteridge. “We focused hard on getting the good starts and it worked well for us. We need to work on the other little pieces of the race to stay ahead, but if we can sail every day like today, we’ll be alright.”

In the two match races earlier in the day, Racing – White, skippered by Terry Hutchinson defeated young upstart Peter Burling’s Team Korea while Emirates Team New Zealand beat Energy Team.