Two-time defending champion Oracle Team USA sailed a masterful race on Bermuda’s Great Sound to beat Emirates Team New Zealand on Saturday and earn a bonus point in the 35th America’s Cup match that starts in two weeks.
In a rematch of 2013 America’s Cup contestants, Oracle skipper Jimmy Spithill forced Team New Zealand’s Peter Burling into a penalty at the start and led at every mark to win by 29 seconds.
Tactician Tom Slingsby told his crewmates after the finish. ”We just won a race in the Cup, boys. Good work.”
Oracle Team USA, owned by software billionaire Larry Ellison, will have a 1-0 lead at the start of the first-to-seven America’s Cup match starting June 17.