4.00pm - By JULIE ASH
Russell Coutts' Alinghi came from behind to score their third consecutive win over Chris Dickson's Oracle BMW Racing in day three of the Louis Vuitton challenger series semifinals.
In 13 knot winds Coutts cleaned Oracle out at the start, coming in over the top to power over
the start line 4s ahead.
Dickson replaced regular helmsman Peter Holmberg who was off the boat while John Culter came on as tactician.
Oracle took the lead on the first beat and rounded the first mark 9s ahead.
The San Francisco syndicate led around the next three marks - 12s, 17s and 14s - holding off a series of attacks from Alinghi.
But it was Alinghi who landed the breeze when a left-hand shift crossed the course.
The lift pushed them ahead of their rivals and around the last mark 17s ahead.
Alinghi extended their lead in the last run to win by 46s. They now have a 3-0 lead over Oracle in the best-of-seven series.
In the other race, OneWorld and Prada crossed the line together at full pace.
Prada immediately tacked away to the right but it was OneWorld who rounded the first mark 10s ahead.
The pair were neck and neck down the first run but rounding the second mark disaster struck for Prada when they were penalised for committing a professional foul.
The Italians locked OneWorld out at the mark preventing them from gybing which resulted in an immediate penalty turn for Prada.
The mistake was game, set, match for OneWorld. The Seattle syndicate rounded the third and fourth marks 51s ahead.
They extended their lead to 56s at the fourth mark before winning by 33s.
Day four of the semifinal series is scheduled to start tomorrow at 1.15pm. The forecast is for 16-23 knot northerly winds increasing to 36 knots later in the day.
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