KEY POINTS:
He's still not quite sure how he pulled it off, but Damiani Italia skipper Vasco Vascotto yesterday chalked up the biggest win of his career when his team toppled their "heroes" Team New Zealand.
The Italians provided the big upset of the first day of the second round
robin, sailing a flawless race to overcome Emirates Team New Zealand by 19s.
The defeat meant there are no longer any unbeaten teams left in the regatta, with Team Origin also taking a loss in yesterday's gold fleet match-ups.
The British team went down to Alinghi after the Swiss reversed the result from earlier in the regatta.
But the real story of the day was the performance of the Italians who, after gaining the upper hand over Team New Zealand early in the race, maintained their cool to hold on for the win.
After the race a delighted Vascotto said he wouldn't be getting too carried away with the win.
"This is sailing, unfortunately, not a 100m running race, otherwise I would feel really strong. But I don't feel any stronger than I did yesterday, just excited that we beat our heroes.
"We are still learning here, we think this is a great competition for us and I'm sure our guys understand after today that if all the guys do their job properly they can get a fantastic result."
A mistake from Team New Zealand skipper Dean Barker in the pre-start handed Damiani Italia the advantage off the line, with the Italians taking the favoured right side of the course.
"We were in a strong position at the start, but we tried to get a bit tricky and a bit too clever and gave up a good controlling position," said Barker. "Today was hard because it was a very one-sided race course, you had to go to the right, so the first guy that got there pretty much had control over the race."
The only way back for Team New Zealand was to hope the Italians made a mistake and pounce, but Vascotto and his crew didn't give Barker any opportunities.
Vascotto said he tried not to focus on what Team New Zealand were doing behind them.
"We played the shifts, played the wind more than played the other team, because we already know that Team New Zealand is the best match racers in the world, so we respect these guys more than anybody else.
"So for us it was important just to be calm, to keep the race going on the shifts and the breeze."
In the other gold fleet match-up, BMWOracle had a straightforward win over Luna Rossa, beating the Italians by 59s.
In the silver fleet K-Challenge overcame the Greeks and China Team picked up a win over Team Shosholoza, after disaster struck the South Africans on the final run home when they lost their gennaker.