Ben Ainslie admitted people would have got “hurt and injured” had the America’s Cup World Series regatta continued during horrendous conditions on the Solent.

Ainslie took victory in the regatta, which is the first stop of the World Series – one of the qualifying stages of the America’s Cup.

Organisers of the Portsmouth competition had to abandon racing yesterday as rain and wind made the Solent unsafe for the high-tech catamarans.

"If we had raced then boats would have probably capsized and people would have got hurt and injured - you can't mess around with these boats," Ainslie said.

"They are very powerful and if they get out of control then it's absolute carnage."

Ainslie and his Land Rover Ben Ainslie Racing (BAR) team took a first and second on Saturday, topping the rankings after two races.

The ‘Super Sunday’ competition, where the six teams would race for double points, was set to be a real spectacle.

"It's a real shame that mother nature has intervened but it's absolutely the right decision when you see the conditions out there," added Ainslie.

"We have a wind limit of 25 knots for a reason and it was clearly beyond that.

"We've been training against these teams all week and things have gone very well for us and we were delighted with our results on the first day.

"We would have liked to race with more wind and we feel strong in those conditions but we can't do anything about it.

"It's a great start and you can imagine what it would be like to host the actual America's Cup here in Portsmouth and what a great race course this is."

The World Series continues in Gothenburg next month.