SAN FRANCISCO - Oracle BMW Racing beat defending America's Cup champion Alinghi of Switzerland twice yesterday on San Francisco Bay to take a 2-1 lead in the Moet Cup.
Skipper Chris Dickson's crew took advantage of their local knowledge to give new recruit Gavin Brady his first victories at the helmof USA-76.
Oracle won the first race by 27s and the second by 24s.
Brady was joined in the back of the boat by local sailors John Kostecki and Larry Ellison, the software billionaire who heads the syndicate.
The Moet Cup is a rematch of the America's Cup challenger finals from last January, when Alinghi beat San Francisco-based Oracle 5-1 to advance to meet Team New Zealand.
It is also the first in a series of regattas designed to make the America's Cup more fan-friendly.
The races are on a shorter course, within view of spectators on the shore.
Two more races are due today, including one in the owner-driver series that features Ellison, the chairman and chief executive of Oracle, steering USA-76 against Alinghi's SUI-64, in the hands of biotech billionaire Ernesto Bertarelli.
Seven races will be held between the regular skippers and crews and five between Ellison and Bertarelli.
* New Zealand Mistral sailors Barbara Kendall and Jon-Paul Tobin remained well in contention but Europe hopeful Sarah Macky dropped out of the running at the world championships in Cadiz, Spain, yesterday.
Defending world champion Kendall held on to second place with 12th and fifth placings in races three and four, dealing with light breezes that fluctuated from 10 to 18 knots.
Her first race was affected when her watch strap broke in pre-race jockeying and she opted for a conservative start to ensure she did not cross the line early.
Australian Jessica Crisp leads a closely fought race for top spot.
World No 2 Tobin climbed from seventh to fourth overall after second and seventh placings yesterday. Team-mate Tom Ashley finishing fifth in race four.
Macky foundered with 31st and 18th placings to lie eighth overall.