Under sail . . . but OneWorld finished on top

The second repechage races of the Louis Vuitton Cup quarter-finals produced the same two winners as the first; Prada from Italy and the Seattle-based OneWorld triumphed over the Victory Challenge from Sweden and Team Dennis Conner's Stars & Stripes.

This time there were no huge margins in terms of distance but each match was won by the better starter.

Prada was fully up to speed and right on the line when the gun fired in a firm southerly breeze while Victory was tacked right on the line and was slow. Prada had a slight edge in speed upwind and rounded the first mark with a 43-second lead. She stayed comfortably ahead until, as she rounded the final mark, the wind began to die away. It dropped to just under four knots as Victory tried to pass but Prada hung on grimly to win.

James Spithill, the young helmsman of OneWorld, made a cracking start against Stars & Stripes and was able to tack and cross his rival within the first minute. The move, on port tack, was not only daring but psychologically devastating and they remained in control of the race, despite at one stage dropping their spinnaker.