The latest: Races 11 and 12 May Be Postponed Because of Wind, Tide Conditions
Update 2:40 p.m.: Emirates Team New Zealand won the start of today's second race (finals race 7) and lengthened its lead at every mark, finishing more than 1 minute ahead of Oracle Team USA. New Zealand now leads the finals 6 races to 1. That's a serious deficit for USA, but it's worse than it looks. The team must still work off a penalty imposed for illegally altering boats in earlier regattas. It must still win another race before it can begin to score points in the finals. The first team to win nine races wins the finals, so Oracle needs to take 10 races to keep the Cup. The Kiwis need three wins to seize the prize.
Update 1:50 p.m.: Emirates Team New Zealand wins today's first race for its fifth victory in the finals. The Kiwis are more than halfway to the nine races they need in the best-of-17 series to win the Cup
Update 1:40 p.m.: Finishing the course's upwind leg and turning at Mark 3, New Zealand is ahead by 44 seconds. That reversed a 12-second deficit at Mark 2. A clear pattern in most races of the finals to this point: New Zealand is performing much, much better upwind.
Original post: It's another race day for the America's Cup and quite possibly a do-or-die day for Cup defender Oracle Team USA. Due to a two-race penalty imposed before the Cup finals began last Saturday, Oracle faces in effect a five-race deficit going into today's racing. Emirates Team New Zealand has won four of the five contests sailed since last Saturday; Oracle has won one and needs to take another just to get to zero in the standings.