Sailing: GBR avenge defeat by Conner in style

GBR Challenge hammered home their fourth win in a row in their America's Cup campaign here yesterday. It took two attempts and every one of their supporters out on the Hauraki Gulf had their hearts in their mouths at times, but it cleared up some unfinished business and the team celebrated starting round-robin two of the Louis Vuitton Cup as they had finished the first: victorious.

The momentum continues, though there are a couple of severe hurdles ahead, and the mood in the Halsey Street compound is buoyant. After paying tribute to the work done by the shore crew between rounds, the tactician Adrian Stead said: "That is the most excited I have felt crossing the finish line yet."

The scalp they claimed was that of Dennis Conner's Stars & Stripes, who had won their first-round meeting by 20 seconds, a defeat which the British crew felt they should not have suffered and they were determined to avenge it. The representatives of the New York Yacht Club had been targeted as must-win opponents in GBR's efforts to finish in the top four.

It looked as if they were destined to another defeat as the first attempt to start the race, in light winds, was abandoned as the wind died. These are the kind of conditions that sometimes make a mockery of an event into which the nine challenging syndicates are pouring about £300m.

The remaining race from round one between the rival Italians – Prada of Milan and Mascalzone of Naples – then went to form and the princes of fashion duly dispatched the waterfront rascals.

It was near the deadline of 4pm when the second attempt to run GBR's race was made. Andy Beadsworth made a good start to hand over to the skipper, Ian Walker, but Britain found themselves trailing by 66 seconds at the first mark to a yacht that has done much to improve its upwind performance. But nothing comes without a price and GBR were able to exploit superior downwind speed to take the lead at the bottom of the course.

Upwind, GBR hung on to the lead and would have held it through the bottom again had the Stars & Stripes' skipper, Kenny Read, not barged in. He was duly punished, a red flag forcing Stars & Stripes to perform a 270-degree turn, and the GBR boat powered away to earn a well-deserved point.

On the same course, the clutch of Kiwis on the Swiss team's Alinghi could almost see the lights of the East Coast Bays and Takapuna twinkling before they finished their demolition of Le Defi Areva. The French boat still wait for their first win after nine outings.

On the second course, the unbeaten OneWorld recovered from being severely rattled. Beaten at the start by Mascalzone, they trailed up and down the first two legs. Sanity was restored, however, and the Seattle team duly banked their ninth victory. But the syndicate who could match GBR's happiness last night were Prada. After changing their boat, they rode a lucky switch in the wind to snatch two points at the end of a day in which they grabbed the lead from Oracle BMW with whom, alongside GBR, they now share third place overall.

LOUIS VUITTON CUP: Round-robin one: Luna Rossa bt Mascalzone 4min 28sec. Round-robin two: Oneworld bt Mascalzone 4min 01sec; GBR bt Stars and Stripes 0:46; Luna Rossa bt USA-76 1:55; Alinghi bt Le Defi 5:54. Overall standings (including round-robin two): 1 Oneworld Challenge W8 L1 9Pts; 2 Alinghi Swiss Challenge W7 L1 8Pts; =3 The Prada Challenge W4 L1 5Pts; =3 GBR Challenge W4 L1 5Pts; =3 Oracle BMW Racing W5 L0 5Pts; 6 Team Dennis Connor W4 L0 4Pts; 7 Victory Challenge W3 L0 3Pts; 8 Mascalzone Latino Challenge W1 L0 1Pt; 9 La Defi Areva W0 L0 0Pts.