San Francisco, Sept 21: Alinghi and Orace BMW make it 3-3 in the Moet Cup Pro-Driver series in San Francisco Bay leaving the series down to the last race. Victory in the Moet Cup will depend on the last race on Saturday (September 20) after Oracle BMW made it 3-3 in San Francisco on Friday (September 19). The Swiss yacht Alinghi won race five on Friday to take a 3-2 lead in the seven race series. Race conditions were perfect, with blue skies and 15-20 knot winds. At the start of race five, Alinghi skipper Jochen Schuemann's timing was almost perfect as he started to leeward a few metres ahead of Oracle BMW, skippered by Chris Dickson.

Alinghi -- winner of the Americas Cup -- then drew closer to Oracle BMW, forcing it to tack away. When the boats converged again, the Swiss yacht had a slim lead that it kept around the top mark.



Oracle BMW was in a good position to attack, but could not get past. Alinghi maintained its lead on the short, three-leg course, winning by 25 seconds.


That meant Oracle BMW had to take race six on Friday, which it did well with clever tacks, eventually winning by 39 seconds.


Bureau Report