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Club:
Golden Gate Yacht Club, USA
Skipper: Peter Holmberg
Design: Bruce Farr
Main Backer: Larry Ellison
Main Sponsor: Oracle
Budget: $80 million |
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www.oracleracing.com |
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In
the world of America’s Cup racing, money counts. As such Oracle
Racing, with their hefty $90 million budget, nearly three times that
of GBR Challenge, seem a good bet. But success rides on a question
that’s on everyone’s lips: will Larry Ellison become the
most high-profile owner/driver in world sailing? The debate about
the rights and wrongs of a wealthy team owner taking control of a
grand prix America’s Cup team rages on with valid arguments on
both sides.
The bottom line is that if Ellison wants to drive his America’s
Cup boat, he probably will. And there is recent precedent to suggest
it can be done; Bill Koch didn’t steer the starts and upwind
legs in 1992, but he took the wheel on the famous ‘Zee Legs’
and didn’t let Paul Cayard and the challenging Italian Il Moro
team past once.
The Oracle campaign would have ranked alongside Alinghi at the outset.
Formed out of the remnants of Paul Cayard’s AmericaOne syndicate
that pushed Prada hard in the Louis Vuitton final, this would have
been an American dream-team if only Cayard and Chris Dickson, two
men hand-picked by Ellison, could find a way to get on. Needless to
say, cracks began to appear, but there was surprise all round when
it was Cayard and not the enigmatic Dickson who was suddenly sidelined.
Dickson soon followed, leaving Peter Holmberg as the figurehead skipper
and strong rumours that Ellison was preparing to play a key role.
Now Oracle are something of an unknown. While Holmberg has found match
racing form and grown into the role of key player, it is difficult
to know whether the team are on a path to greatness or simply managing
to avoid imploding on a day-to-day basis.
In nominated designer Bruce Farr, the team have a major player who
is still desperately hungry to make the mark on America’s Cup
design that has so far eluded him; his New York Yacht Club boats of
the last event were so respected (apart from the fact that one split
in half!) that Prada immediately bought one to see what made it tick.
On paper, Oracle would have been a semi-final certainty a year ago.
They still have the budget and firepower to perform if the unknowns
are answered in an adequate fashion. |
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