British beat Oracle in first big upset of Louis Vuitton Cup

5.00pm

In the first big upset of yachting's Louis Vuitton Cup, Oracle, one of the pre-tournament favourites, were beaten by the little-fancied British GBR Challenge on the Hauraki Gulf here today.

The British came home 36 seconds ahead, after leading at all but the third mark.

It was the second successive bad day for Oracle, who lost yesterday to the Swiss Alinghi team, and the second great result for the British, who won yesterday against Sweden's Victory Challenge.

The results of the past two days are starting to raise questions about the ability of the big budget San Francisco-based Oracle, headed by software billionaire Larry Ellison, to match it with the two top-performing yachts, Alinghi and Seattle's OneWorld.

Oracle has looked vulnerable in the mid-strength breezes of the past two days, particularly downwind.

Today, GBR were able to make their big break on the fifth leg, upwind.

Oracle had closed on them when a big right-hand wind shift picked the British up and took them out to a lead of as much as 290 metres.

Nine teams are racing in the first round robin at the start of a four-month series to find who will challenge Team New Zealand for the America's Cup in February.

In another thriller between the two previously winless teams in the fleet, Italy's Mascalzone Latino crossed the finish line 4sec ahead of France's Le Defi Areva, but the final winning margin was five minutes 19 seconds because the French were penalised just before the finish line.

They received the penalty for trying to stop Mascalzone from gybing and went back on to the race course after they crossed the line the first time to complete their penalty turn before crossing again for their official finish.

The French led at the first and fifth marks, having regained the lead after a fierce tacking duel on the fifth leg.

On the final leg Mascalzone retook the lead and held on despite Le Defi staying right behind them.

Another of the favourites that did not look as good today as might have been expected was the Russell Coutts-skippered Alinghi, which beat Sweden's Victory Challenge by 25sec.

Alinghi led at every mark but on the final leg the Swedes closed to within one or two boat lengths before their spinnaker ripped in half, taking the pressure off the Swiss.

Seattle's OneWorld was pushed hard early on by Louis Vuitton Cup holders Prada, but went on to win fairly comfortably by 1min 11sec.

At the first mark the gap had only been 2sec, with both teams going around the mark together with OneWorld having the inside running.

At the second mark the gap was 9sec, and at the third and fourth marks it was 21sec, before OneWorld pulled away on the last two legs.

Wind direction varied between the west and north today, with speeds ranging from 11 to 22 knots.

The three abandoned races from Flight Six have been rescheduled for Sunday, with Le Defi Areva against Stars & Stripes, GBR Challenge against Mascalzone Latino and the long-awaited showdown between the two big-money US challengers OneWorld and Oracle BMW.

The two postponed matches from Flight Five rescheduled for Monday. Oracle BMW will sail against Sweden's Victory Challenge, and Italian syndicates Prada and Mascalzone Latino will pair off.

- NZPA

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