KEY POINTS:
They stood on their boats and applauded as James Spithill gently guided Luna Rossa though the largest spectator fleet in Valencia yet.
The Italian syndicate, headed by Prada boss Patrizo Bertalli, had just beaten Chris Dickson's BMW Oracle Racing.
Again.
After four races in the best of nine race semifinal series, Luna Rossa now have a handy 3-1 lead over BMW Oracle Racing following their 23 second win yesterday,
In the other match Emirates Team New Zealand also picked up their third victory over Desafio Espanol winning by 42 seconds. They also have a 3-1 lead in the series.
While Team New Zealand's score line is possibly what most expected, the same cannot be said of the other match which Dickson's Oracle was expected to dominant.
So far Oracle have trailed Luna Rossa around every single mark in four races.
The key to success in today's racing was a good start and securing the better pressure on what was a fairly even race track
In what was the mellowest prestart yet between Dickson and Spithill - Oracle wanted the right and got it.
But unfortunately it was the left that had slightly better pressure and Luna Rossa were on it. The two engaged in a tacking duel up the first beat, Luna Rossa bouncing Oracle out the right.
The Italians rounded the top mark 13 seconds ahead. They defended well on the first run, losing just a second to USA98.
Up the second beat, the Italians allowed Oracle to break away to the left, while they remained on the right.
The separation at one point was a staggering 2700 metres. For a moment it looked like Oracle had taken the lead however when the boats rejoined in the middle of the course Luna Rossa were good five boat lengths ahead.
Oracle embarked on a gybing dual down the final run but it was to no avail as the Italians crossed the line 23 seconds ahead.
"We never feel good about losing and being 3-1 down is not where we wanted to be at this stage," said Oracle navigator, Peter Isler.
"But, there is still a long way to go and the strategy remains to go out and win one race at a time. We have confidence in the crew and the boat and we are determined to go out there and turn it around."
Team New Zealand skipper Dean Barker went along way towards silencing his critics pulling off not one but two cracker moves in the prestart which allowed him to power off the line at pace.
Team New Zealand started on the left pushed their opponents out to the right. They gained in the tacking duel up the first beat to round the top mark 25s ahead. From there they gained on every leg to win by 42 seconds.
"It was a good start," Team New Zealand runner Tony Rae said.
"Dean did a good job there. We were happy with just being fast off the line. We would have been happy to have been at the weather end fast off the line as well. The big deal was to slow them down at 20 seconds to go and then put the hammer down and go."
Rae said a half a boat length lead off the line makes a huge difference. "When you come back together and it allows you to tack lee-bow and force your opponents out to the right hand layline.
"From then on the afterguard did a great job at positioning the boat in the pressure. There were not a huge amount of shifts, it was just a matter of keeping the boat in the pressure and keeping between them and the mark."
A win tonight and Team New Zealand and Luna Rossa will be at match point. Race five of the semifinals is tonight (NZT), Race six tomorrow. A day off is then scheduled on Monday.
