AUCKLAND, New Zealand -- Seattle's OneWorld Challenge won its fourth straight race Monday, coping with unpredictable winds in a victory over Dennis Conner's Stars & Stripes in the America's Cup challenger series.

Two other races in the Hauraki Gulf were postponed because of light wind.

OneWorld, the syndicate of Craig McCaw and Paul Allen, beat the New York yacht by 1 minute, 21 seconds.

The blue Seattle boat has performed exceptionally well in various conditions and is slowly establishing itself as a favorite in the Louis Vuitton Cup, a four-month competition to determine who faces defender New Zealand in the finals.

Alinghi of Switzerland moved into first place in the challenger standings when it won for the fourth time in five races, finishing 4:33 ahead of Britain's GBR Challenge.

OneWorld and Alinghi both have four wins but the Seattle entry has only three points, losing a point before the challenger series began because of a rules infraction.

While two races were completed on one course Monday, no racing was possible on an adjacent course.

Those races -- Oracle of San Francisco vs. Victory Challenge of Sweden and the all-Italian Prada vs. Mascalzone Latino -- were postponed until the end of the first round.

Tacticians were stretched to their limits in the races that did take place as winds fluctuated from 4 to 9 knots and swung through more than 300 degrees. Teams sent crew members to the top of their masts in an attempt to spot wind changes.

OneWorld's elapsed time around the 18.5 nautical mile course was 2 hours, 44 minutes, 12 seconds, almost an hour longer than races had taken in moderate winds last week.

Alinghi led by 21 seconds at the first mark and stretched its advantage to 1:28 after the second upwind leg. GBR cut into its lead as each team chased wind shifts and was only 43 seconds behind at the second leeward mark, but Alinghi raced away.

In racing Tuesday, it's Le Defi vs. Stars & Stripes, Oracle vs. OneWorld, Victory Challenge vs. Prada and GBR Challenge vs. Mascalzone Latino. Alinghi has the bye.