As if they needed any more of a boost, two-time defending champion Oracle Team USA will start the 35th America's Cup match ahead 1-0.
Owned by software billionaire Larry Ellison and skippered by Australian Jimmy Spithill, Oracle Team USA sailed a masterful race on Bermuda's Great Sound on the final day of the qualifiers on Saturday to beat Emirates Team New Zealand and earn a bonus point in the Cup match that starts June 17.
It's just one of the radical departures from tradition in this America's Cup, which, perhaps fittingly, is being sailed on the northern tip of the Bermuda Triangle.
Imagine if the World Cup final started with one team already ahead by a goal.
Or the World Series starting with one team already up by one game.
That's similar to what Oracle gained.
"We just won a race in the Cup, boys. Good work," Oracle's Australian tactician Tom Slingsby told his crewmates after Oracle's fast, 50-foot catamaran splashed down off its foils at the end of the race.
There's still plenty to get used to in this America's Cup.
This is the first time the defender has sailed with the challengers in the preliminaries.
It's the first time a bonus point has been awarded for the match.
Oracle will need to win only six races to retain the Cup.
The challenger will need to win seven in order to pry the oldest trophy in international sports away from powerhouse Oracle.
"I think the point could end up being incredibly important," said Spithill, who forced Team New Zealand skipper Peter Burling into a penalty at the start and won by 29 seconds in a rematch between the teams that sailed the epic 2013 America's Cup match.
Oracle will now train on their own while the challengers sail their semi-finals, which start on Sunday, and the finals.
Top-seeded Emirates Team New Zealand chose Ainslie's syndicate, Land Rover BAR, as its opponent in the semi-finals.
That leaves SoftBank Team Japan to face Sweden's Artemis Racing in the other semi.
Had Team New Zealand won Saturday's race, would have earned a bonus point if it made it through to the match.
Oracle came back later Saturday and beat Land Rover BAR.
In other races, Land Rover BAR beat Team Japan and Artemis Racing beat Groupama Team France, which was eliminated Friday.
