KEY POINTS:
In their first regatta at this level, British syndicate Team Origin have emerged as strong contenders in the Louis Vuitton Pacific Series after downing the America's Cup holders in yesterday's round robin match-up.
After overcoming experienced Italian side Luna Rossa on day one, the Brits yesterday pulled off
another impressive win, beating Alinghi by 36s.
Since his arrival in Auckland just over a week ago, Team Origin skipper Ben Ainslie has played down his young team's chances in the event.
But their early form suggests they have the goods to rival the dominance of the "big three syndicates" - Alinghi, BMWOracle and Team New Zealand - in the Louis Vuitton series.
Sir Keith Mills, the British businessman knighted for his part in leading London's successful bid for the 2012 Olympic Games, set up Team Origin 18 months ago with the goal of creating a competitive British challenge.
The team's yacht club, the Royal Thames, were the first club to challenge for the America's Cup in 1870.
"We held the Auld Mug very briefly before it was lost again and we haven't seen it since. This event is just the beginning of trying to get it back again," he said.
In Ainslie, their helmsman, Team Origin have one of the best match racing exponents in the business.
The three-time Olympic gold medallist underlined his class in yesterday's win over Alinghi, setting up the victory for the Brits with a masterful move in the pre-start.
With 15s to go both boats approached the startline on starboard tack and Alinghi, with Ed Baird at the helm, looked to be in control. But Ainslie made an aggressive final move, luffing to force Alinghi over the start line a second too early.
The Swiss were forced to turn back to re-cross the line and in the meantime Team Origin powered out to a lead of six boat lengths.
Team Origin director Mike Sanderson said it was a premeditated move. "We were pretty keen on being the ones to push them in this much breeze," he said. "Ben did a fantastic job working with the guys in the back of the boat to pull it off and we ended up starting with a pretty nice delta."
Although Alinghi were able to put pressure on Team Origin in patches, in the end the head-start proved too much to overhaul.
In the day's other races, Damiani Italia joined Team New Zealand at the top of Pool A on two wins after toppling French syndicate K-Challenge. But with a bye yesterday, Team NZ still have a race in hand.
Also in pool A, Russell Coutts' BMWOracle Racing finally got a point on the board with a convincing 1m 28s win over China Team.
The margin could have been a lot closer had the Chinese not picked up a penalty in the pre-start for gybing too close to BMWOracle.
Damage to the headfoil of NZL-92, the boat Team Shosholoza were scheduled to sail against Luna Rossa, forced the delay of race four. The boat returned to the village and the Team New Zealand shore crew did an impressive job of repairing the damage, sending the boat back out to the race course inside an hour.
But the weather then conspired against the two teams, with winds of around 27 knots on the Waitemata forcing the abandonment of the match.
The race has been rescheduled to today, with organisers hoping to tag it on to the end of the day's racing. But with southeasterlies of around 25 knots forecast, the likelihood of getting in five races is looking marginal.