Morale-boosting victory for Oracle over Alinghi

US YACHT Oracle scored a morale-boosting victory over Swiss rival Alinghi in the fourth race of the Louis Vuitton Cup finals here yesterday.

Oracle’s two-minute 13-second win was its first against Alinghi in eight starts and takes the best-of-nine challenger series, which decides who meets Team New Zealand in the America’s Cup, to 3-1 in the Swiss boat’s favour. “It’s like we got a bit of a monkey off our back today, we were able to score a point against Alinghi which has been a bit of a problem for us,” Oracle afterguard Ian Burns told reporters. Burns described the win as “flukey” in flat seas and shifting winds of about 10 knots that were difficult to read, but said the San Francisco-based yacht handled the conditions well.

After falling behind by 38 seconds in the first leg upwind, Oracle caught a breeze on the second leg with the wind at its back and overhauled Alinghi to lead by 56 seconds at the next marker.