BMW Oracle Wins The America’s Cup

by Staff - February 14th, 2010 - Associated Press (NY Times)


Pictures of the racing yacht referred to as BMW-Oracle

Still bundled against the cold in his white foul-weather gear, the software tycoon Larry Ellison hoisted the America’s Cup high in the air, then planted a kiss on it, the oldest trophy in international sports.

On February 14th, 2010, in the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Valencia Spain, the most recent battle for what used to be the most prized trophy in sailing ended in victory by the American syndicate. The victory was won mostly by the money of a single rich, narcissistic, arrogant American computer tycoon with help from a German sponsor. There was little in the traditional spirit of the America's Cup involved in this effort to win the trophy back from the Italian team of Alinghi. The American boat, a magnificent technological marvel, does not even have a real name, having to race under the names of two corporations, one German and one American. It also has little American technology and few American crew.

Both of these boats were awesome technological marvels. Both were faster than anyone could ever imagine, turning light wind into blistering speed at a rate never believed possible until recently.

It will be interesting to see if this victory returns the America's Cup races into the spectacles of old, or whether the indifference of the public to recent bouts will continue.