BMW Oracle has regained the America's Cup for the United States, after a 15-year absence.
Along the way the Cup has resided in New Zealand and Switzerland, but after a contentious Deed of Gift Match, Larry Ellison's BMW Oracle has beaten Ernesto Bertarelli's Alinghi 2-0 in the match at Valencia.
Raced in trimarans, the event was contentious from the moment the challenge for the Match was made but it is expected that some form of normalcy will return to America's Cup racing.
Australian James Spithill was helmsman in the victory while New Zealander Russell Coutts represented his third winning team while filling the role of chief executive of Oracle.
Spithill, who first raced in the America's Cup in Auckland in 2000 when Team New Zealand first defended the Cup, said it was an 'amazing feeling' to win the trophy. He is the second Australian to succeed at Cup level after John Bertrand first removed the Cup from America's grasp in 1983.
"The amount of work the whole team has put into this boat and now to go two races without any issues – you just have to hand it to the short guys, the boatbuilders and all of the support team and designers. They gave us an awesome tool," he said.
Team boss Ellison said: "It's absolutely an awesome feeling. I'm really proud to be part of this team. I couldn't be more proud."
The teams had another delay before racing could start due to light winds. When racing started the wind was at 7-8 knots. Alinghi made a mistake when entering the start box on the wrong side at the five-minute gun and earned a penalty.
Alinghi had an early advantage and got out to a 600-metre lead. However, by the first mark, USA had gained the inside position and the challenger led round the mark by 28 seconds. From that point USA took full advantage and crossed ahead by 5m 26s.
"It was an awesome race. It was touch and go. We didn't see that shift going as far right as it did and that made it pretty exciting early on," he said.
The win is the first by an American challenger since Dennis Conner regained the Cup he lost in 1983, at Fremantle in 1987. The win is the first by an American entry since Bill Koch's America3 defended the Cup in San Diego in 1992.