Intro:

Oracle boat has America's Cup World Series match win taken away following official ruling on Friday.

Script:

Russell Coutts seemed on course to successfully opening the defence of his match race title on Friday at the America's Cup World Series in San Francisco.

His aggressive starting-line strategy forced Artemis Racing Red to take a penalty for barely touching the Oracle boat and after falling behind then struggling to repair one of the sails, Artemis skipper Nathan Outteridge said he simply wanted to finish the race without serious damage.

In the event, he was handed an unlikely victory.

Officials ruled that Coutts took a shortcut along the course, and so awarded the win to Outteridge.

Oracle Team USA fared better in Friday's other match race as skipper Jimmy Spithill advanced to the semifinals by eliminating J.P. Morgan BAR with Ben Ainslie at the helm. Spithill will face Artemis Racing White.

Ainslie - four time Olympics gold medallist - continued his strong performance in the fleet competition with first- and second-place finishes in Friday's two races.

He finished just ahead of Artemis Racing White with skipper Terry Hutchinson in the first race, and the two boats traded places in the second.