Software mogul Larry Ellison's hi-tech trimaran beat Alinghi by more than a kilometer in the second race off the Spanish port of Valencia. The results were provisional, with Alinghi flying a protest flag over an as yet undetermined infringement.

An American team had not won sailing's oldest and most prestigious trophy since Bill Koch's America3 beat Italian challengers Il Moro de Venezia in 1992.

It was a convincing victory for Ellison's boat, a unique trimaran featuring a revolutionary wing-shaped mast and mainsail configuration the height of a 20-story building.

Alinghi, with biotechnology and banking billionaire Ernesto Bertarelli at the helm, finished 5 mins 26 seconds behind after a miserable race.

Bertarelli's team made an error in pre-start maneuvers, earning a penalty, which had to be executed before they could finish.

The Swiss catamaran made up good ground to lead on the first leg of the 39-nautical mile race but were then blown off the water by BMW Oracle's superior speed.

The carbon fiber and Kevlar American boat hit speeds of up to 33 knots, incredibly more than four times the speed of the wind, as it surged away on the second leg to lead by more than 2km. BMW Oracle won Friday's first race equally easily.