Team New Zealand have snatched a sensational win over Sweden to keep their America's Cup qualifying hopes alive off Bermuda.
In the most dramatic race of the regatta so far, featuring nine lead changes, the Swedes seemed to have victory in their hands, when they rounded the last mark aheadand forced the Kiwis into a terrible jibe in the run to the finish-line.
But as they galloped away from their rivals, Sweden were slapped with a penalty for not allowing Emirates Team NZ enough room to manoeuvre and were required to drop behind.
Artemis' Iain Percy was heard over the on-board mic, screaming "no way" at the umpires, followed by "it's an absolute joke" and "we're not happy!"
TNZ skipper Peter Burling gained an advantage at the start, when he forced counterpart Nathan Outteridge across the line early and then took maximum gain from the two boat-length penalty.
The Kiwis were ahead at the second mark, but made a bad tack and Sweden generated greater boat speed to take a three-second margin at the third mark. At times, the Swedes showed superior pace throughout, hitting speeds of up to 40 knots.
But they jibed badly down the fourth leg to allow Team NZ back on level terms at the next turn, setting up some classic match-racing exchanges.
Burling held his nerve, barely clearing his opponent to snatch an edge at the fifth mark, but Sweden gained an advantage down the right side of the course to lead into the final rounding.
"I think if our last rounding was anything to go by, we were just turning the boat as hard as we could and we were pretty lucky not to end up on our side," said Burling afterwards.
"These boats, when you're coming in at 40 knots, you need a little bit more room than that. We managed to work our way back into it down that last run, after a few little handling errors and a few hard shifts.
"Both teams sailed a great race and we were just fortunate to come away with it at the end. "For us, that's part of it ... that's what we're here to do, have great racing like that.
"That's how you learn and how you get better."
These two teams have just one night to regroup, before they meet again tomorrow.
Earlier, Team France continued their renaissance at the regatta, upsetting Ben Ainslie Racing (GBR) for their second win of the week.
The British, with Olympic legend Sir Ben Ainslie at the helm, entered this week as one of the favoured challengers for the Auld Mug, having won the America's Cup World Series.
The British got off to a flying start, when they hooked France in the start box, grabbed inside running to the line and left them standing to enjoy a 10-second lead at the first mark.
With slightly stronger and more consistent winds than yesterday, racing was more about boat speed than tactics.
Trailling by 15 seconds at the second mark, French skipper Franck Cammas powered past his opponent at the third turn and built a 10-second advantage down the next leg.
When Sir Ben Ainslie tacked badly, Team France had victory in hand and they stretched their margin to 53 seconds by the next mark and held it to the finish. Game over.
Both Oracle Team USA and Emirates Team NZ put more than a minute on the French on opening day, but after toppling Team Sweden yesterday for their first win, Cammas has now claimed another prized scalp.
Groupama Team France take on Land Rover BAR off Bermuda. Photo/America's Cup
Although their boat handling was still rough at times, they have been the big improvers over the opening days of sailing.
Meanwhile, BAR, damaged in a collision with Team Japan on day one, have now lost four straight races and need to find a way back into the contest.
But the French could not live with Dean Barker and Team Japan in the day's final race, totally capitulating by two minutes 34 secs. They were barely on their foils in the latter stages, suggesting some damage to the AC50 boat.
For Barker, who dropped two races the previous day, their second victory of the regatta came as a welcome relief. Japan's performance was based on a dominant position out of the start.
"It would be nice to do that every time," he chuckled. "We were lucky with the way things set up, but we took advantage of it and it made the first reach a bit more fun.
"It's very much a learning process through this stage. We want to make sure we carry on, obviously.
"We've let two races go, when we've been in control and we've been disappointed in those, but some good learnings come from the mistakes. It was great to come out and sail a good race today."
Cupholders Oracle Team USA did not sail today, but still lead the standings - they share Team NZ's 4-1 race record, plus the bonus point from finishing runners-up in the world series.
But Sweden, Japan and France each have two wins in the struggle to see who goes home next week as the bottom-placed team.
Day 3 schedule: R13: Groupama Team France beat Ben Ainslie Racing by 53 secs R14: Emirates Team NZ beat Team Sweden R15: Softbank Team Japan beat Groupama Team France by 33 secs
