MADRID, May 1 (Xinhua) -- China scored a historic victory over the United States's BMW-Oracle, and Spain's Desafio beat Italy's +39 in an intense day of sailing in the Louis Vuitton Cup in Valencia on Monday.

The wind reached 13 knots, throwing spinnakers into the water and breaking several pieces on some boats. Crews were maneuvering at the limits of their capabilities.

Desafio started badly, trapped behind official boat ITA-85, and in the first race into the wind the Italians were over a length ahead although the Spanish team fought for every length advantage, and on the return they were 29 seconds head.

However, on the second lap, into the wind the Italians were unable to hook in their headsail and the Spanish team was able to catch up, although the Italians fought until 100 meters before the finish line. The final result put Spain a mere 10th of a second ahead.

The day's other surprise race was also determined by the force of the wind. Race favorite BMW-Oracle sent in their reserve team to battle China Team, but broke their headsail rack on one of their runs into the wind allowing China to beat them by more than a kilometer or more than three minutes.