Cup teams lead the charge

Alinghi lead after day two of the iShares Cup Extreme 40 racing in Cowes

.There were some exhausted looking crews at the end of the day of the iShares Cup racing in Cowes, after six grueling races were completed on another wet and wild day at Skandia Cowes Week.

The four America's Cup teams present have so far dominated this UK leg of the iShares Cup, and today was no exception, with James Spithill on BMW Oracle Racing opening proceedings, followed home by event leaders Alinghi, series leaders TeamOrigin, and stablemate BMW Oracle Racing Cammas: the battle was on to see who would come out on top.

Alinghi won the second, whilst TeamOrigin fought back in the third race of the day to win. Alinghi went on to win the next two races, extending their lead overall. They are on the brink of claiming overall victory in Cowes and TeamOrigin skipper, Rob Greenhalgh, may be regretting his comment pre-start "that whoever wins here could win the season". But never underestimate Greenhalgh & Co, who always seem to come back strongly when their backs are up against the wall.

And the America's Cup teams are facing some tough competition from catamaran specialist Andreas Hagara on Holmatro, who has held on to second overall - just one point ahead of BMW Oracle Racing Cammas, with TeamOrigin just a point further behind. Andreas Hagara proved his cat sailing experience when he recovered from a spectacular near-capsize in race two.

Before racing today Hagara explained why the bear away is such a danger zone for the Extreme 40s: "The bear away at the windward mark in those conditions is always a challenge. You have to ease the mainsheet and the traveller quite early, actually before the bear away because if you get a gust and the bows are already in the water then the hydraulic mainsheet doesn't release that quickly and you can be too late.

"Once the rudders are in the air, I can play around with the tiller but can't feel anything! So you have to get all the weight back."

Elsewhere in the fleet the Oman Sail crew had a close shave when they were involved in a collision with Volvo Ocean Race, and several boats had to make repairs on the move as the steep, grey Solent waves once again battered the Extreme 40 fleet.

"I was looking forward and the first thing I knew was Mark [Bulkeley] shouting," said Oman Sail skipper Pete Cumming of the incident, "He rolled into the trampoline and the bowsprit missed his head by inches, so I dived onto the trampoline as well!" Oman were forced to call it a day after only one race with a broken tiller and damaged to the back beam but expect to be back racing tomorrow.

Team Aqua have officially retired from the UK leg of the iShares Cup, following an accident sustained by their helmsman Alister Richardson during yesterday's capsize in between races. Skipper Cameron Appleton stated: "We feel that with his back strain yesterday he's not in a position to produce this sort of level of intensity and results that we are going to be looking for in the remainder of this regatta. If he can't be at 100% then our team can't be up to it and it's just an unfortunate situation and we're sorry that he's injured. Our boat is fixable but it's just his well-being that is our main concern."

At the end of play today Alinghi dominate with three race wins to extend their overall lead 12 points, but with second, third and fourth only 1 point apart going into the final day of racing tomorrow

Between six and eight races are scheduled tomorrow, with another breezy day predicted to test the crew's stamina to the max.