AUCKLAND, New Zealand -- Defending America's Cup challengers champions Prada crushed fellow Italians Mascalzone Latino by more than four minutes to close out a much-delayed first round robin of the new challengers series.

The all-Italian race had been delayed four times since October 5 by unsuitable winds and forced regatta organisers to push back the start of round robin two for the nine challengers by a day-and-a-half.

Prada beat Mascalzone by four minutes and 28 seconds to lift themselves from seventh in the standings to equal fourth with Britain's GBR Challenge and Team Dennis Conner's Stars & Stripes.

Round robin one had been due to finish last week and Prada put the extra time to good use by working around the clock to make major modifications to their stylish silver and red boat's bow, hull and rigging.

Prada, a $55 million campaign backed by the Milan fashion house, had a bad start to the defence of their Louis Vuitton Cup challengers title, winning only two of their first five races.

Volatile Prada head Patrizio Bertelli sacked principal boat designer, former Cup-winning designer Doug Peterson, after losing their first race but the Italians now appear to be back on course after their convincing win over eighth-placed Mascalzone.

Mascalzone, backed by Neapolitan shipping magnate Vincenzo Onorato, led across the start line by 19 seconds.

But Prada made up more than a minute on the first leg to lead Mascalzone by 49 seconds and then picked a significant wind shift to surge ahead over the remaining three legs of the race, which was shortened to 12.5 nautical miles from the normal 18.5 miles so organisers could clear the round robin one backlog.

Prada face a much tougher task later on Wednesday when they take on third-placed Oracle BMW Racing, the rich U.S. syndicate backed by software billionaire Larry Ellison, when the first races of round robin two get under way later on Wednesday.

Mascalzone have an even harder race against the undefeated OneWorld of the United States. Equal first-placed Alinghi of Switzerland will sail the winless Le Defi Areva of France while GBR will take on Team Dennis Conner.