Ellison
Leads The Way At Moet Cup
September
17, 2003 – San Francisco, CA – Larry
Ellison, the ORACLE BMW Racing team owner, showed
that his practice sessions over the past month
were well worth the time as he sailed a very strong
race on Wednesday, to beat ALINGHI, and take a
2-0 lead in the Owner-Driver series at the MOËT
CUP.
The
America’s Cup winning ALINGHI team found
no relief in the Pro-Driver race either, as ORACLE
BMW won its third consecutive race to take a 3-1
lead in the seven-race series.
The
weather conditions were spectacular once again
on San Francisco Bay, and the local sailing fans
responded with a 70-boat strong spectator fleet,
and big crowds lining the sea wall and breakwaters
along the race course.
Racing
for the MOËT CUP continues on Thursday afternoon,
with two races scheduled, one in each of the Pro-Driver
and Owner-Driver series.
MOËT
CUP – Owner-Driver Series – Race Two
of Five
ORACLE
BMW Racing (USA-76) beats ALINGHI (SUI-64) –
Delta 0:38
Larry
Ellison won the start over Ernesto Bertarelli
and never looked back, converting a three-second
advantage over the start line into a dominant
lead.
Ellison
led ALINGHI back towards the start line, and was
in a strong position, just to leeward of SUI-64.
He luffed hard, closing the gap, and forced Bertarelli
to respond. As the ALINGHI boat slowed, head to
wind, Ellison put his bow down and accelerated
to the start line. Although both boats were late,
it was the American who crossed the line first.
Both
skippers looked to escape the strong flood current
by tacking up in the lee of Alcatraz Island. With
his start line lead, Ellison was able to cover
ALINGHI at every turn, and although Bertarelli
tried to escape by throwing in 11-tacks in the
one-mile beat to the Island, the ORACLE BMW Racing
team didn’t let him escape.
The
boats sailed past Alcatraz and then held a long
tack in towards the city. Again, Ellison stayed
with Bertarelli, and led him around the top mark
by 36-seconds, the biggest lead to this point
of the MOËT CUP.
The
ALINGHI team couldn’t find any passing opportunities
for the rest of the race, and were forced to follow
USA-76 around the course. But that didn’t
stop the sailors from thrilling the crowd assembled
on shore, as both boats tacked in towards the
shoreline. At one point, the spectators at Fort
Mason could nearly step off the pier, and land
on deck.
MOËT
CUP – Pro Driver Series – Race Four
of Seven
ORACLE
BMW Racing beats ALINGHI – Delta 0:40
After
a short postponement of the first start sequence,
racing started in a 15-20 knot westerly, and both
teams immediately engaged in the traditional dial-up.
With limited passing lanes on this race course,
the importance of a good start can not be overstated,
and both skippers were anxious to get across the
line first.
After
a long time spent head-to-wind, ORACLE BMW helmsman
Gavin Brady broke away first, with ALINGHI in
close pursuit. The teams began circling downwind
of the Committee Boat. As they broke for the line,
ALINGHI skipper Jochen Schuemann caught the American
team on a close starboard-port incident, but Brady
was able to tack quickly, and come out ahead and
to leeward with the teams racing for the start
line.
As
the gun fired, the ORACLE BMW crew was slightly
ahead, and to leeward, and as both boats tacked,
USA-76 settled into a strong controlling position,
slightly ahead and upwind of SUI-64. ALINGHI tried
to escape, but the ORACLE BMW team held cover
and led into the top mark by 22-seconds.
ALINGHI
continued its trend of making gains downwind,
and closed up on the first run, but the Swiss
team never found a passing lane in this race,
and fell by 40-seconds to ORACLE BMW.
With
the win, skipper Chris Dickson’s ORACLE
BMW Racing team takes a 3-1 lead in the Pro-Driver
series for the MOËT CUP.
Quotes
of the Day:
Chris
Dickson (ORACLE BMW Racing) on the action close
to the shoreline: We were sailing up the city
front in one of the races today…and I think
we may have scraped two or three people off the
pier! There were some big eyes and some people
taking steps back. I think we went about 10-feet
from the pier and then ALINGHI went about 10-inches
from the pier. So my suggestion for people would
be, if they’re on the city front, be careful.
They don’t need to come to us, we’re
coming to them!
Warwick
Fleury (ALINGHI) on why his team has lost four
races this week: It’s probably a little
bit of everything. ORACLE BMW have done a great
job of preparation and that just shows that yacht
racing is all about preparation. I wouldn’t
say that our crew changes are any part of it.
We’ve been sailing with a few new people
and that’s working out really well. The
racing is close, and in some of the races it’s
a one-way track where if you get behind, it’s
very hard to get back. But we’re battling
out there, and in the next couple of days I’m
sure we’ll win some races.
Chris Dickson on whether Larry Ellison was enjoying
the MOËT CUP: If Larry could have his way,
there’d be a MOËT CUP every week in
San Francisco.
Craig
Monk (ORACLE BMW Racing) on what it’s like
being with his new team: I was with TNZ for ten
years and that’s probably the team that
everyone’s striving to be like. OneWorld
was a two year stint and we never quite got there.
We had a lot of battles off the water, and that
held us back a bit. This team is very, very new,
and I’m enjoying my time here, and all of
our sailing on the Bay here for the last six week.
I think that’s about the 200th time we’ve
been out on the Bay so we know it pretty well.
Christian
Karcher on what ALINGHI has to do to win: We just
need to be on the start line tomorrow, ready to
fight again. I said to Warwick earlier, ‘we
will win a couple of races tomorrow.” I’m
sure of it.
Warwick
Fleury, confronted with the fact that many ALINGHI
sailors will be over 45-years old at the next
America’s Cup: There’s no substitute
for experience! I don’t feel that old.
Terry
Anderlini of the Treasure Island Sailing Center,
on seeing the action his race management volunteers
have planned for at the MOËT CUP: Just seeing
all the great racing here on San Francisco Bay.
This is the first time we’ve had this kind
of Cup racing here, it’s been an historic
event and just being a part of it is a real thrill.
What we’ve seen has been spectacular and
everyone on the race committee boats is getting
a real charge from it, as well as working hard.
Moët
& Chandon is the official sponsor of the MOËT
CUP. Event partners include Oracle Corporation,
BMW, Hewlett-Packard, and TAG Heuer. The Media
Center is managed by the Louis Vuitton Cup team.
Hewlett-Packard is the technology partner of the
Moët Cup Media Center. The Golden Gate Yacht
Club in partnership with the Treasure Island Sailing
Center will run the MOËT CUP on-the-water
Race Committee.
Information
about the MOËT CUP and race results and updates
during the event can be found by visiting the
Golden Gate Yacht Club web site at www.ggyc.com.
