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Oracle BMW Racing And Alinghi Fight To The End At The Moet Cup

September 19, 2003 – San Francisco, CA – There was plenty of drama at the MOËT CUP on Friday, as ALINGHI and ORACLE BMW Racing split races in the Pro-Driver series. That means the seventh and final race, scheduled for Saturday, will determine the winner of the MOËT CUP.

Series. Big boys with their big toys. Ellison play's chicken with a freighter and loses (of course). Photos © Chuck Lantz - www.2007ac.com

Unfortunately, racing had to be abandoned in the Owner-Driver series on Friday, when a container ship steamed past on the downwind leg of the race course, dramatically interfering with the race boats. Larry Ellison’s ORACLE BMW Racing team saw its lead evaporate when it was forced to luff behind the ship to lay the leeward mark. The Race Committee took action immediately, abandoning the race.

The city of San Francisco is embracing the MOËT CUP, as evidenced by the steadily increasing spectator fleet, and the growing crowds in the hospitality village and along the sea wall. The weather continued to provide perfect racing conditions, with bright, sunny skies, and strong 15-20 knot winds.

The MOËT CUP concludes on Saturday, with match-point to be sailed in both the Pro-Driver and the Owner-Driver divisions.

MOËT CUP – Pro-Driver Series – Race Four of Seven (re-sail)

ALINGHI (SUI-64) beats ORACLE BMW Racing (USA-76) – Delta 0:25 (ALINGHI LEADS 3-2 AFTER FIVE RACES SAILED)

The Swiss ALINGHI team took full advantage of the re-sail for race four of the Pro-Driver series, and put the pressure firmly on the ORACLE BMW Racing team.

ORACLE BMW skipper Chris Dickson and helmsman Gavin Brady appeared to have ALINGHI skipper Jochen Schuemann on the ropes in the pre-start, when ALINGHI stalled after the dial-up. With the Swiss boat stuck head to wind, and with little steerage, Brady circled around and took aim with starboard tack rights, not once, but twice. But in both instances, the Umpires judged that ALINGHI was just able to stay clear, and no penalty was assessed.

Schuemann finally was able to regain control of SUI-64, and as the boats powered up for the start line, his timing was near perfect, and he crossed the line at the gun, a few yards ahead and to leeward of USA-76.

Schuemann and the ALINGHI trimmers then worked their magic, slowly squeezing up to the American boat, and after a few minutes, ORACLE BMW was forced to tack away. When the boats converged again, ALINGHI held a slim lead that it was able to protect around the top mark.

Although ORACLE BMW was in a good position to attack the Swiss boat on the run, it was never able to find a passing lane. Sailing a shorter, three-leg course, ALINGHI was able to protect the rest of the way home, to win by 25-seconds.

The ORACLE BMW Racing team was now charged with winning the remaining two races of the Pro series, if it was to secure a series win and the MOËT CUP, on home waters.

MOËT CUP – Owner-Driver Series – Race Four of Five

Racing abandoned (to be re-sailed) due to commercial traffic (ORACLE BMW RACING LEADS 2-1 AFTER THREE RACES)

MOËT CUP – Pro-Driver Series – Race Six of Seven

ORACLE BMW Racing (USA-76) beats ALINGHI (SUI-64) – Delta 0:30 (SERIES TIED 3-3 AFTER SIX RACES SAILED)

This was a match the ORACLE BMW Racing team had to win, and Larry Ellison’s men responded, sailing a strong race, and evening the Pro-Driver series for the MOËT CUP.

Both boats crossed the starting line on starboard tack, with speed, with ALINGHI to windward, and ORACLE BMW Racing close up to leeward. The Swiss boat couldn’t stay in that position and tacked away, with USA-76 quickly following suit. The boats drag-raced out towards Alcatraz Island, on a long port tack, and when they crossed again, ORACLE BMW skipper Chris Dickson held a slim lead. The Americans tacked to cover ALINGHI, and Swiss skipper Jochen Schuemann tacked away to break cover. But USA-76 tacked as well, and over the next 10-minutes, the boats engaged in slow, downspeed tacks, as Schuemann tried to break away.

ORACLE BMW eventually relented, allowing ALINGHI to split to the middle of the course and this was where the race was won. The boats separated by over 1000 yards, and when they converged again at the top mark, the ORACLE BMW Racing team led by 39-seconds.

ALINGHI could do nothing to close this deficit, and the two teams will sail one more race in the Pro-Driver series to determine the winner of the MOËT CUP.

Quotes of the Day:

David Brooke (ORACLE BMW Racing) on his team’s close call with a container ship: We were trying to get everything up early and get ready for whatever was going to happen, but I believe the spinnaker was very close to getting caught on the back of the ship…it was quite funny because we were all trying to wave the ship past us. It was strange to turn around and see ten people trying to wave the ship, ‘cmon, cmon’!!

Simon Daubney (ALINGHI) on how the container ship affected the race: If we’d been in touch with the San Francisco Maritime Authority we couldn’t have timed that ship coming through any better than it did. We needed something like that to go our way! It all just came together and we couldn’t believe our luck!

Gavin Brady (ORACLE BMW Racing) on the close racing: It was a big day for us today…it feels good to be able to go out tomorrow and put it all on the line. I think that couldn’t be a better final.

Matt Jones (Race Committee) on having to abandon a race when a container ship crossed the race course: Sometimes it just happens that the racers and the ships come together. That ship did not appear to be able to go north of Alcatraz, it came south, in the inbound lanes. If he had been just a little bit earlier, or a little bit later, we would have been fine, but it just happened that the sailors came around the mark, at the same time he came into the Bay and he was there, a big black wall, preventing them from getting down to the mark.

Simon Daubney (ALINGHI) on the series being so close: The sailing is to a very high standard, the crew work on both boats, and the positioning, no matter who is driving is second to none. They’re a tough team and we’ve had some really close races.

Francesco Rapetti (ALINGHI) on the physical exertion of sailing on San Francisco Bay: In this wind condition and when you’re doing more than one race…with three races, and three starts, it’s very tiring.

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.