Oracle Team USA survived a scare during another exciting day of America’s Cup practice racing on the Great Sound.

The American defender snared a marker while racing against Swedish challenger Artemis Racing in chilly 13-15 knot northeast breezes.

Oracle were leading when the mishap occurred on the last bottom mark and never recovered as Artemis held on for their first win in their new boat while bringing their rivals’ unbeaten streak to a grinding halt.

That proved to be the only blemish on an otherwise successful day at the office for the holders of the coveted “Auld Mug” as they returned to shore boasting the best record among the three Cup syndicates that lined up against each other in their America’s Cup Class catamarans.

Jimmy Spithill and his Oracle colleagues started the day on the front foot after crossing the finish line more than a minute ahead of Artemis who trailed the entire race.

Land Rover BAR also proved to be easy pickings for Oracle, who beat the British challenger by more than a minute.

However, the Americans were denied the clean sweep in a second match against Artemis as a marker rounding that went horribly wrong proved costly.

The past week has been a difficult one for Sir Ben Ainslie and his Land Rover BAR colleagues, who crashed their boat into a floating dock and then suffered two defeats by Oracle on the opening day of practice races, which have been made possible by yet another controversial change to the America’s Cup protocol. But an impressive victory over Artemis by a handful of seconds in the day’s closest race might have gone a long way towards cushioning the blow and raising morale.

The British challenger virtually left their rivals parked at the start to seize early control and covered them the rest of the way to chalk up a maiden win on Rita.

Groupama Team France showed up at the party, but again opted not to dance, nudging a press boat with one of their chase boats.

SoftBank Team Japan’s boat has been under repair for the past several days after suffering damage.

A team spokesman would not comment on the nature of the damage.

However, published reports suggest that Team Japan broke one of their rudders, which had to be retrieved by divers off the seabed.

Practice racing continues today in the Great Sound, venue for the 35th America’s Cup.

Action begins at 1pm with Groupama Team France meeting Land Rover BAR in the day’s opening race.