KEY POINTS:
Sitting on the side of his boat, one hand still on the wheel one could only imagine what Chris Dickson was thinking.
His team BMW Oracle Racing had just lost to Luna Rossa for the fourth time and are now just a loss away from being eliminated from
the America's Cup.
A situation no one would have predicted when the challenger series started in Valencia on April 16.
With a 4-1 lead the Italians are now at match point in the best of nine race semifinals.
Emirates Team New Zealand are in same position having beaten Desafio Espanol by 1 minute 49s yesterday to take a 4-1 lead.
The pre-start between Chris Dickson and Luna Rossa's James Spithill was electric. Dickson copped not one but two penalties.
Spithill had Dickson slammed up against the pin end. In a desperate attempt to free himself Dickson gybed down but was pinged by the umpires for not keeping clear.
Almost instantly he felt the umpires wrath again when he swung his boat around and ploughed into Luna Rossa with his transom.
It was hard to believe what you were seeing.
Because he already had a penalty Dickson had to perform one penalty turn instantly which allowed Luna Rossa to sail off with a comfortable lead. They went on to win by 1 minute 57s.
"The first penalty was a port-starboard incident as we tried to wriggle off the hook. It was a calculated risk. We thought we could get across in front of them, but we couldn't quite get there," said Oracle navigator Peter Isler.
"You never like to put yourself in the hands of the umpires, but we figured if we could have got across, we would have neutralised the situation we were in, but it didn't pay off for us.
"Luna Rossa has sailed well and had some breaks. They have earned their victories, but we have seen big turn-arounds in regattas before. Don't count us out yet."
In the Team New Zealand and Desafio Espanol prestart Dean Barker tried to get the hook on Desafío Espa--ol but didn't quite manage it.
With the Spain to leeward, Karol Jablonski pushed Barker up, forcing the Kiwi boat close to the start line.
The Kiwis were forced to tack off towards the Committee boat and, by the time they tacked again to cross the line, the Spanish were almost two boat lengths ahead.
The boats sailed on a long starboard parallel course and gradually NZL92 powered back.
When the Spanish fell out of the line of breeze, Team New Zealand sailed into the lead and took control of the race.They extended around the track to win by 1 minute 49 seconds.
Team New Zealand strategist Ray Davies said going into the pre-start they felt the committee boat end was favoured.
"Karol [Jablonski] did a good job of not giving us too much room to play with at the committee boat end so we had to do two tacks down speed. Once we got going the initial advantage was to the Spanish. The breeze went to the right and we continued to make gains all the way up."
Race six is scheduled for tonight. If Team New Zealand and Luna Ross win they will advance to the final of the Louis Vuitton Cup which starts on June 1. The final is also a best of nine race series.
