AUCKLAND, New Zealand -- Oracle beat OneWorld by less than a boat length Saturday to take a three-point lead in their semifinal repechage at the America's Cup.

	Oracle, right, and OneWorld raced bow-to-bow toward the end of the final leg.

The San Francisco team's victory came a day after it won by more than four minutes in the opener of the best-of-seven series.

For a moment, close to the finish line, OneWorld edged ahead. But Oracle thrust its bow ahead to cross only three seconds ahead in the closest race of the Cup challenger series.

Seattle's OneWorld had been 16 seconds behind Oracle at the final turning mark.

The yachts briefly separated at the top of the last run and OneWorld, to the right of Oracle, steadily closed on its rival. When they converged near the middle of the run, OneWorld was only a boat length behind Oracle and closing rapidly.

The yachts crossed the finish line with Oracle less than the length of its burnished hull ahead of the hard-pressed Seattle team.

"Our hearts were in our mouths,'' said Oracle navigator Ian Burns.

"We've practiced that kind of finish a few hundred times now and it paid off at last,'' he said. "We just try to keep it business as usual in a situation like that, but it's pretty hard with them breathing down your neck. You just have to sit there and hold on tight.''