Oracle Racing Challenge (Larry Ellison Team)

Oracle started arriving in Ventura (03/22/01)
(source : Delphi forum)

Oracle Team members have started arriving in Ventura, with accountants, chefs, personal trainers and two of the most advanced boats in sailing history to follow soon. Over the past month, all 100 members are expected to be here by mid-April to start five months of training in and around the Ventura Harbor. Chris Dickson has already arrived in Ventura and reportedly will earn more than $1 million for his efforts.

The most important part of the crew had been training off the Auckland, New Zealand, coast until about a month ago. With autumn about to arrive there, members began moving to Ventura, CA. During this time, some of his crew have trained in Southern California before, using the deep-water port in Long Beach to prepare for America's Cup 2000.

Robert Billingham, operations manager for the Oracle Racing team, said crew members will spend about eight hours a day on the waters off Ventura's coast. He expects they will head out about 10 a.m. every morning and return by early evening.

The crew will sail aboard the USA-49 and USA-61, the old America One race boats Ellison acquired when he bought the syndicate in July 2000. Both boats were used for the New Zealand training and have been put aboard a container ship bound for San Pedro. From there, they will be trucked to Ventura, where they will be reassembled before April 15.

The syndicate is designing and building two other racing boats -- the ones that will be used in the actual America's Cup in New Zealand. Officials refuse to say where the construction is occurring.

Oracle Racing has budgeted $500,000 for its stay in Ventura. "This does not include all of the personal expenditures the crew and staff will make while here," Billingham said.

Four support boats will be on hand, too. Two will tow the racing sailboats the 500 or so yards between the docks and the open sea. Another will resupply the racing boats with all sorts of provisions while they're out at sea.

The crew has brought along two chefs, who will prepare meals at the team's base camp in a parking lot along Spinnaker Drive. The camp includes more than a half-dozen portable buildings that already have been set up. They will house everything from a gymnasium to an administrative center filled with computers, accountants and others. Oracle has even hired a private teacher to help home-school the 65 children coming along with the team.

Oracle Racing is leaving Auckland (02/24/01)
(source : NZ Herald)

As Oracle Racing is beginning its second training session in Ventura, America's Cup rumors are flying about personnel changes at Larry Ellison's syndicate.

Apparently the syndicate's Operations Manager, Bob 'Budha' Billingham and plus Donny Anderson and a number of members of the OR shore team are no longer with the syndicate. But most of the rumors center around the alleged departure of OR's helmsman, Chris Dickson.

When asked for a comment, Oracle Racing syndicate head Bill Erkelens said, "Chris Dickson is still on the team. He was here at work today (Thursday) and all of the rumors are just rumors. I look forward to continuing my working relationship with Chris."

Chris Dickson goes match racing (02/22/01)
(source : madforsailing)

Oracle Racing, intended challenger for the 2003 America's Cup, is set to compete on the Swedish Match Grand Prix Sailing Tour. Skipper Chris Dickson is building the team's competitive preparation with his entry into both the upcoming Steinlager/Line 7 Cup in Auckland from 12-17 March and the Sun Microsystems Australia Cup from March 21-25.

"To be at the top of our game for the next Cup we need to constantly challenge ourselves and further our competitive match-racing portfolio," said Dickson. "The America's Cup is a match race and the more practice we can do on the circuit, the better. The Swedish Match Tour provides a great opportunity to refine our skills and we look forward to competing."

Cayard, the liberated America's Cup sailor (02/10/01)
(source : Quokkasailling.com)

Very interesting interview of Paul Cayard," the liberated America's Cup sailor", which does a a very free (and clear) analysis of its new Team.

Larry Ellison's dollars and Chris Dickson's appointment as skipper of Oracle Racing has lifted all of that from Cayard's shoulders. Now he's focusing on what he does best: not just sailing, but playing the AC game, a game of detail, intrigue, planning, analysis, performance and execution.

Big dollars mean a big team. "We have enough money to hire 70 to 80 people," said Cayard, "so one of our immediate goals is the amalgamation of these people, to really get it blended and homogenous. As much as we're working on a sail or a keel, we are working on the development of our team, and I've seen some progress on that since October."

Cayard has long advocated breaking the holder's arm-lock on the Cup and putting its management in the hands of professional, independent sports administrators. He wanted a sport where teams could attract sponsors who would get good returns from a well-promoted and widely exposed competition.

" Now we are back to a competition dominated by fabulously wealthy patrons. Just like the Cup in the last century. And the one before that. It's a little bit of retrograde step in the short term," said Cayard.

Asked to pin his job down, Cayard said he's the team's free safety, moving into areas where and when he can provide an assist.

Oracle is approaching Marina del Rey (02/02/01)
(source : latitude38)

For the last six months, everyone - ourselves included - assumed that the negotiations between Oracle Racing and the St. Francis YC of San Francisco would result in Oracle competing for the 2003 America's Cup under the burgee of the St. Francis YC. After all, Oracle's Larry Ellison races his maxi 'Sayonara' for the St. Francis, and many of the key players in Oracle Racing have deep roots with the club.

Nonetheless, Oracle Racing and the St. Francis announced on Saturday that they would be unable to reach an agreement because "the St. Francis YC could not satisfy Oracle Racing's requirements.".

St. Francis YC Commodore Steve Taft said that the negotiations between Oracle and the St. Francis YC - which were always "most amicable" - broke down over the issue of control of the America's Cup effort. "Ellison wanted the St. Francis to amend its articles of incorporation and by-laws so that he could put three of his people on the board of directors. But since the St. Francis is a California corporation, the law requires they be elected.

So the club couldn't legally comply with Oracle Racing's request even if we wanted to. Other possible solutions were explored, such as appointing three directors that would only have control over the Cup effort, or somehow being able to guarantee the results of an election of a slate of board members. But after checking with our lawyers, we found that we couldn't legally do any of these things.".

Oracle Racing is apparently approaching the California YC of Marina del Rey, which unlike most yacht clubs in California, is a private club. In fact, it's owned by the Hathaway family, which owns golf courses and other clubs. Because it is a private club, it's possible that the California YC can give Ellison the control of the America's Cup effort that he requires.

Who will challenge with Oracle ? (01/29/01)
(source : scuttlebutt)

St. Francis Yacht Club (St.FYC) and Oracle Racing announced today that they have ended talks aimed at mounting a challenge for America's Cup 2003.

For the past six months, the St.FYC and Oracle Racing have been engaged in negotiations evaluating scenarios on how to best join forces for Americas Cup XXXI. Talks concluded when it became apparent that St.FYC could not satisfy Oracle Racing's requirements. St.FYC has been involved in two previous America's Cup campaigns, most recently in 1999-2000 with AmericaOne.

Steve Taft, Commodore of St. Francis Yacht Club expressed disappointment that they were unable to reach an agreement. "Many members of Oracle Racing are members of St. Francis Yacht Club. It seemed like a perfect fit but we were not able to structure an agreement that would benefit both parties," he said.

Bill Erkelens, Oracle Racing's COO, said that talks are continuing with other clubs that have expressed interest in challenging with the syndicate. Oracle intends to have a challenge filed by March 1, 2001.

Aaron McIntosh joins Oracle Racing (01/21/01)
(source : stuff.co.nz)

Aaron McIntosh, a three-time world boardsailing champion, has joined the huge American Oracle Racing syndicate skippered by Kiwi yachting icon Chris Dickson. The 29-year-old Aucklander will be part of its weather team for the next two years.

The Oracle weather team is headed by weather guru Bob Rice and includes well-known Kiwi sailors Rex Sellars and Simon Cooke. Sellars won gold in the Tornado class at the 1984 Olympics and silver at Seoul four years later. Cooke went to the Sydney Olympics in the 470s.

Oracle salvages keel (01/11/01)
(source : Stuff.co.nz)

The keel snapped off one of the syndicate's yachts during a training run in November, capsizing the boat within minutes and forcing the crew to leap into the water to safety.

Oracle Racing recovered the 21-tonne keel from 30 metres of water on January 5 – after six days of trying and three attempts, spokeswoman Gina von Esmarch said in a statement.

The keel was not likely to be used again, but Oracle wanted to retrieve it for environmental reasons, and so it could be studied to see why it broke. USA 61 and its new keel will be back on the water, with its sister boat USA 49 next week."

Salvage Operation for Oracle's Keel (12/07/00)
(source : NZ Herald)

Chris Dickson's America's Cup team have found their keel at the bottom of the sea, but they will have to wait for perfect conditions until it can be salvaged. The 21-tonne keel, which fell off Oracle Racing's USA-61 yacht a fortnight ago, has been located by divers 40 metres underwater. The lead bulb was buried two metres beneath the sandy bottom of the Hauraki Gulf - after falling from the boat at a speed estimated over 100km/h. It narrowly missed hitting undersea phone cables lying nearby.

A salvage operation will be ready to go next week, dependent on the weather. Oracle Racing plan to use the lead bulb for the replacement keel, but a new steel fin has to be made after the original snapped off the bottom of the boat. The crew have continued to sail sister yacht USA-49, but they will not be two-boat testing again for at least another month.

USA-61 (Oracle) Capsizes (11/23/00)
(source : NZ Herald)

The Oracle America's Cup yacht skipperd by Chris Dickson (and led by US computer billionaire Larry Ellison) capsized on the Hauraki Gulf when its keel - 20 tonnes of lead and one tonne of steel - sheared off cleanly at the hull and sank 40m to the bottom of the gulf.

It was out two-boat racing with sister ship USA49. Dickson, skipper of the new syndicate, was at the helm, racing against the boat's old helmsman, Paul Cayard, in 22-knot winds and a testing 1.5m swell.

Sailors on board the boat, from the well-heeled American Oracle Racing challenge, heard a sharp crack as the 21-tonne keel snapped off clean at the bottom of the hull and the racing yacht immediately capsized. Kiwi skipper Chris Dickson and his crew jumped and dived for their lives when their America's Cup boat toppled over into the heaving waters of the Hauraki Gulf.

The syndicate's two chase boats and tender went to their rescue and Crew clambered back on board to try to right the boat, but the hull began to take on water. With Chris Dickson in charge of the salvage operation, pumps from the support craft were put to use, and crewmen began bailing out the water. Concern grew when the mast slipped below water. The team called for more pumps and airbags. With the help of flotation buoys, the rig was saved and the tender was able to begin the long tow home.

The $3 million yacht (which contested this year's Louis Vuitton Cup challenger final and lost to Italians Prada), lashed to a barge with a crane holding the mast upright, was towed into the basin at 3 o'clock (Auckland), where an investigation began into how and why the keel broke off.

Oracle Racing has time on its side - it is the first challenger for the 2003 Cup to set up in Auckland and has been sailing here for the past month.

Oracle sailing on the Hauraki Gulf (10/19/00)
(source : NZ Herald)