US challenger BMW Oracle won the opening race of the 33rd America's Cup Friday, beating Swiss holder Alinghi by more than 3 km in a stunning display of hi-tech sailing. Software mogul Larry Ellison's BMW Oracle started badly but was clearly faster than Ernesto Bertarelli's Alinghi and opened a 1-0 lead in the best-of-three series with surprising ease. The American trimaran finished the 40 nautical mile course more than 15 minutes ahead of Alinghi, scything through the water at speeds of more than 20 knots with two of its three carbon-fiber hulls raised high in the air. The second race between the two giant multi-hull yachts is scheduled for Sunday off the Spanish port city of Valencia, with Ellison having the chance to win the Cup for the United States for the first time since 1992. “We've won one race and you have to win two. We're focused on just one thing and that's the race on Sunday,” Ellison told a news conference. Alinghi is better suited to lighter conditions but BMW Oracle showed a clear advantage over the Swiss catamaran both upwind and downwind, indicating Bertarelli's seven-year hold on the America's Cup may be slipping. Bertarelli said a mistake in choosing the right sails for the conditions had cost his boat and that he had also been surprised by the strength of the wind, which gusted up to 17 knots. “We have a number of options,” biotechnology and banking billionaire Bertarelli said. “The Cup is not over. Today it just happened that their boat was faster. They sailed a good race,” he said. BMW Oracle skipper James Spithill lured Alinghi into a penalty during aggressive pre-start manoeuvres, the Swiss boat with Bertarelli at the helm failing to give way just before the starting gun. Australian Spithill then appeared to undo his good work, stalling at the start line because a winch used to raise and lower sails failed to engage properly. What Spithill described as “a fumble” allowed Alinghi to open a lead of 650 meters soon after the start in 6-10 knot winds. The error did not hold BMW Oracle back for long. With its unique wing-shaped mast and mainsail configuration –twice the size of a commercial jetliner's wing – it soon overtook Alinghi and led by 450 metres halfway up the first leg. “The piece of kit that we're most proud of is the wing,” Ellison said. The American boat was 3 minutes 21 seconds ahead at the halfway mark after the first upwind leg and widened its lead on the downwind leg, reaching speeds of about 25 knots. Spithill said he was surprised by the boat's speed downwind. Alinghi's official losing margin was blown out to 15 minutes 28 seconds after the Swiss boat was forced to perform a penalty turn – which it botched – before crossing the finish line because of its pre-start transgression. It was the biggest winning margin in America's Cup racing since Dennis Conner's Stars & Stripes – also a catamaran – beat a New Zealand monohull in two races in 1988.
