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The crew members of BMW Oracle celebrate after winning the America's Cup - Source: Reuters -
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US challengers BMW Oracle won the 33rd America's Cup on Monday,
beating Swiss holders Alinghi in the second race to claim the
best-of-three series 2-0 in a triumph of superior design and
technology.
Software mogul Larry Ellison's giant trimaran, featuring a towering
wing-shaped sail, beat Alinghi by more than five minutes in the
second race, leaving the Swiss boat in its wake after snatching the
lead at the first mark.
The long history of America's Cup legal
wranglings
Ellison, an accomplished ocean racer who had never made it to an
America's Cup match before, steered his space-age boat back to the
Spanish port of Valencia as night fell, hugging and congratulating
his crew members.
"I'm enormously proud of this team," said after raising the old
silver trophy aloft, shouting "Valencia - muchas gracias".
"It's a fabulous experience," the self-made billionaire said.
Ellison's BMW Oracle team was beaten by Alinghi, backed by banking
and biotechnology billionaire Ernesto Bertarelli, in the final of
the 2003 challengers series for the America's Cup, which the Swiss
went on to win from holders New Zealand.
The 2010 event came after more than two years of often bitter legal
wrangles between Ellison and Bertarelli over the America's Cup
rules, battles which sometimes spilled over into sniping between
two of the world's richest men.
Bertarelli urged Ellison to drop a law suit, to be heard in New
York on February 25, over the origins of the sails on his boat, one
in a long line of complaints between them which led to the
best-of-three showdown without the usual challengers series.
Ellison said there would be "a level playing field" at the next
America's Cup. The date and venue have not been decided yet, he
said, but added he had already received notification of a
"Challenger of Record" - a main challenger with whom the holders
will organise the next regatta.
Asked to comment on reports Italian shipping magnate Vincenzo
Onorato had told media he would be the challenger of record,
Ellison said: "Vincenzo Onorato's a close friend of ours and I've
never known him to be untruthful about anything."
Onorato's Mascalzone Latino team competed in the 2003 and 2007
challengers series for the America's Cup.
Long absence
An American team had not won sailing's oldest and most prestigious
prize since Bill Koch's America3 beat Italians Il Moro de Venezia
in 1992.
"I'm exceptionally proud to bring the America's Cup back to the
United States after a very long absence," Ellison said.
It was a convincing victory for Ellison's boat, a unique trimaran
featuring a revolutionary wing-shaped mast and mainsail
configuration the height of a 20-storey building.
The carbon fibre and kevlar American boat hit speeds of up to 33
knots, incredibly more than four times the speed of the wind, as it
surged away to lead by more than 2,100 metres.
Alinghi, with Bertarelli at the helm, finished 5 mins 26 seconds
behind after a miserable race. The Americans won Saturday's first
race equally easily.
"This America's Cup was about speed," Bertarelli told reporters.
"Congratulations to the BMW Oracle team, their boat was faster, no
question."
Bertarelli's team made an error in pre-start manoeuvres - their
second in the two races - incurring a penalty turn which had to be
executed before they could finish.
The Swiss catamaran made up good ground to lead on the first leg of
the 39-nautical mile race but were then blown off the water by BMW
Oracle's superior speed. "You could see there was a bit of a
difference between the boats and that's yacht racing," Alinghi
tactician Brad Butterworth said.
Alinghi had flown a a protest flag during the race but later
decided to withdraw their complaint.
