Undefeated BMW Oracle Racing extended its lead in the Louis Vuitton Cup after beating Italian syndicate Luna Rossa in the fifth flight of racing on Tuesday.
BMW Oracle Racing led from the start and stayed ahead after nine tacks over the last lap of the 16.7km southern "Juliet" course to edge the Italians by six seconds.
The US team, who also beat Victory Challenge of Sweden in the fourth flight with owner Larry Ellison at the helm, moved clear atop the round-robin standings with 10 points from its fifth win.
PHOTO: EPA
"The scoreboard can be a little bit deceiving," BMW Oracle Racing bowman Brad Webb said. "Right now we're wearing the yellow jersey but it's only five races in, so anything can happen still."
Luna Rossa started the day level in the standings with the US team, but ended in a five-way tie for second on six points after being upset by Shosholoza of South Africa earlier.
"We got the right side of the course and the start we wanted, but the wind didn't come for us and Shosholoza got in front and stayed in front," Luna Rossa trimmer Joe Newton said.
The South Africans followed that impressive victory by beating winless China Team to move into second.
"We're not going to get carried away after this," Shosholoza strategist Iain Ainslie said. "We always thought it was within our abilities to get into the top four and now it doesn't feel like such a longshot."
Emirates Team New Zealand followed up its win over French team Areva Challenge with a victory over Desafio Espanol of Spain to also go to six points.
The Spanish team had earlier beaten Mascalzone Latino, which rebounded with a win over +39 Challenge of Italy, which had a bye for the fourth flight.
Also, United Internet Team Germany beat China Team for its first win before losing to the Swedish in the fifth flight.
Areva Challenge had a bye for the fifth flight.
Racing was initially delayed on Tuesday because of a lack of wind. The challengers' series has been postponed for six of the previous eight days, allowing only three of a possible 16 flights to have been raced.
The Louis Vuitton Cup will decide which of the 11 challengers will sail against America's Cup champion Alinghi in the final from June 23 to July 4.
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