BMW Oracle is a sailboat racing syndicate, initially formed to compete in the 2003 America's Cup. The syndicate is backed primarily by Larry Ellison, who made his billions off of Oracle's database software. The team name was revised in August 2004 to BMW Oracle, a reflection of the German company's increased role within the team.
The team was created out of the ashes of Paul Cayard 's AmericaOne syndicate (which lost the 2000 Louis Vuitton Cup to Prada in an epic battle) when Cayard sold the lion's share of his assets to Ellison's new Oracle syndicate. The syndicate got off to a rocky start with changes in the skipper position, going through Cayard, Chris Dickson and Peter Holmburg . Also, the St. Francis Yacht Club was unwilling to give Ellison the free hand he wanted in running the challenge for the 2003 America's Cup, so Ellison took his money down the road to the Golden Gate Yacht Club. This is a very well funded syndicate. It made it to the finals of the 2003 Louis Vuitton Cup, losing to Alinghi 5-1. Now BMW Oracle is the Challenger-of-Record for the next America's Cup which is to be held in Valencia, Spain in 2007. BMW Oracle and Alinghi are doing a lot to remake the America's Cup into a more exciting, more profitable event, including fleet racing in San Francisco Bay using a large handful of powerful International America's Cup Class boats.
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Last updated: 08-23-2005 10:55:07
