Oracle BMW Racing

USA

Chief Executive Officer:

Larry Ellison

President:

Philip Simon

Chief Operations Officer:

Bill Erkelens

Sailing Director:

John Cutler (New Zealand)

Skipper:

Chris Dickson (New Zealand)

Helmsman:

Peter Holmberg

Oracle BMW Racing is led by software entrepreneur Larry Ellison, who also owns the renowned maxi racer Sayonara and the 74m motoryacht

Katana

.

New Zealander

Chris Dickson

was to lead the sailing team but on Feb 27, 2002 he was reassigned to unspecified duties amid rumours of friction between him and other members of the crew.

Dickson rejoined the sailing crew, to replace helmsman Peter Holmberg, on October 24 after a run of loses. Within one day Dickson was named skipper, and had brought Holmberg back to the helm. Ellison was no longer part of the racing crew.

Dickson skippered

KZ7

, the "plastic fantastic", in New Zealand's first tilt at the Cup in 1987. He made the semifinals of the Louis Vuitton series in 1995 at the helm of

Tag Heuer

.

Another Cup veteran,

Paul Cayard

, is also involved in a behind-the-scenes role.

The syndicate purchased the assets of the 1999 AmericaOne campaign.

Their two new yachts have raised a few eye-brows, appearing narrower than most and raising questions about how they will fare on Auckland's temperamental Hauraki Gulf.

On November 22, 2000 one of the old AmericaOne boats, USA61,

lost her keel

while the Oracle crew was practising on Auckland's Hauraki Gulf.

A year later, on November 14, 2001 it was the turn of the other former AmericaOne yacht, USA49, to

drop her keel

on the Gulf.

The bad luck continued when, in January 2002, one of the Oracle training boats was

dismasted

while sailing in light air on the Gulf.

History

New to the game, Oracle Racing was officially born in May 2000. The team first assembled in San Francisco and started training two months after acquiring the assets of the AmericaOne and Aloha Racing syndicates. In late October 2000 the team ventured to Auckland where they have been pretty much ever since.

Crew

In the beginning Oracle Racing had the afterguard dream team, with Chris Dickson, John Cutler, Paul Cayard and Peter Holmberg, not to mention Tommaso Chieffi and Ian Burns. Then Cayard was relegated from the sailing team to an administrative role and Dickson soon followed. Still an experienced team and the largest, with 140 members all up.

The team includes:

Kevin Batten, rigger (NZ)

David Brooke, mast/grind (NZ)

John Cutler, afterguard (NZ)

Chris Dickson

, skipper (NZ)

Cameron Dunn, traveller (NZ)

Graham Fleury, mast/grind (NZ)

Mickey Ickert (ex Team NZ sail designer)

Philip Jameson, mid-bow (NZ)

Robbie Naismith (ex Team NZ trimmer)

Mike Sanderson, trimmer (NZ)

Mark Turner (ex Team NZ boatbuilder)

Brad Webb, bow (NZ)

Disaffected Kiwis were spur for Ellison

Money

The syndicate would not confirm their worth but it is understood Oracle have $180 million to splash around.

Strengths

Oracle's afterguard is still one of the strongest around. Skipper Peter Holmberg goes into the event as the current Swedish Match Tour champion and his tactician John Cutler is a three-time America's Cup competitor. Also the Oracle boats were designed by veteran cup designer Bruce Farr, who was responsible for the Young America boats last time.

Prospects

Oracle have the skill to make the top four. With a healthy budget, experienced crew and what are expected to be competitive boats, Oracle should be a top four shoo-in.

New boats:

USA-71

,

launched June 12, 2002

USA-76

,

launched July 4, 2002

Designer: Bruce Farr

Hull colour: grey

Trial horses:

USA-49, USA-61

Club:

Golden Gate Yacht Club

, San Francisco, USA

Team website