USA’s Oracle beat defending champion Alinghi to win 33rd America's Cup

AFP - US side Oracle beat defending Swiss champion Alinghi on Sunday in the second race of the best-of-three series of the 33rd America's Cup to claim sailing's oldest and most prestigious trophy.

The Swiss side dominated for most of the first leg of the race - a 39-mile triangle off the Spanish port of Valencia - despite being given a penalty at the start for being outside of the start box when the signal to begin the match went off.

But Oracle led Alinghi around the top mark by 28 seconds after the Swiss ceded the inside position to its trimaran, whose solid vertical wingspan of 68 metres is more than twice the length of the wing of a Boeing 747.

Powered by its wing-sail, Oracle extended its lead over Alinghi over the next two legs, clocking a speed of 33 knots at one point with its owner Larry Ellison onboard in the afterguard position as a late addition to the crew.

A US team have not won the America's Cup since 1992 when America3 as a defender beat Italian side Il Moro 4-1 in San Diego.