SAN FRANCISCO, USA, August 24th Oracle Team USA with the two skippers James Spithill (AUS) and 4 x Olympic gold medallist Sir Ben Ainslie (GBR) race against each other on the America's Cup race course before the Louis Vuitton Cup finals start. Sailed in AC 72s catamarans.
Oracle Team USA is an
American sailboat racing syndicate initially formed to compete for the 2003
America’s Cup. They competed again in the 2007 event before winning the
33rd America's Cup regatta in 2010 - representing the
Golden Gate Yacht Club. The syndicate was initially named
Oracle for the 2003 campaign and backed primarily by
Larry Ellison, the wealthy co-founder and
CEO of
Oracle Corporation, but was renamed in August 2004 to
Oracle BMW Racing to reflect the German company's role, and subsequently revised again to
BMW Oracle Racing to reflect increased involvement from
BMW. At the end of December 2010, it was announced that BMW was bringing to a close its longstanding partnership with ORACLE Racing and thereby ending its involvement in the America's Cup; this was by mutual agreement of both partners. Oracle Team USA's Larry Ellison declared that the 34th America's Cup would be sailed on revolutionary
AC72 class
wing-sail catamarans. Oracle Team USA experienced the first major accident involving the new AC72 class, when the boat capsized during training off
San Francisco on October 16, 2012.
