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Chris
Dickson goes match racing (02/22/01)
(source
: madforsailing)
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Oracle
Racing, intended challenger for the 2003 America's Cup,
is set to compete on the Swedish Match Grand Prix Sailing
Tour. Skipper Chris Dickson is building the team's competitive
preparation with his entry into both the upcoming Steinlager/Line
7 Cup in Auckland from 12-17 March and the Sun Microsystems
Australia Cup from March 21-25.
"To be at the top of our game for the next Cup we need to
constantly challenge ourselves and further our competitive
match-racing portfolio," said Dickson. "The America's Cup
is a match race and the more practice we can do on the circuit,
the better. The Swedish Match Tour provides a great opportunity
to refine our skills and we look forward to competing."
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Very interesting interview of Paul Cayard,"
the liberated America's Cup sailor", which does a a
very free (and clear) analysis of its new Team.
Larry Ellison's dollars and Chris Dickson's appointment
as skipper of Oracle Racing has lifted all of that from
Cayard's shoulders. Now he's focusing on what he does best:
not just sailing, but playing the AC game, a game of detail,
intrigue, planning, analysis, performance and execution.
Big dollars mean a big team. "We have enough money to hire
70 to 80 people," said Cayard, "so one of our immediate
goals is the amalgamation of these people, to really get
it blended and homogenous. As much as we're working on a
sail or a keel, we are working on the development of our
team, and I've seen some progress on that since October."
Cayard has long advocated breaking the holder's arm-lock
on the Cup and putting its management in the hands of professional,
independent sports administrators. He wanted a sport where
teams could attract sponsors who would get good returns
from a well-promoted and widely exposed competition.
" Now we are back to a competition dominated by fabulously
wealthy patrons. Just like the Cup in the last century.
And the one before that. It's a little bit of retrograde
step in the short term," said Cayard.
Asked to pin his job down, Cayard said he's the team's free
safety, moving into areas where and when he can provide
an assist.
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Oracle
is approaching Marina del Rey (02/02/01)
(source : latitude38)
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For the last six months, everyone - ourselves
included - assumed that the negotiations between Oracle
Racing and the St. Francis YC of San Francisco would result
in Oracle competing for the 2003 America's Cup under the
burgee of the St. Francis YC. After all, Oracle's Larry
Ellison races his maxi 'Sayonara' for the St. Francis, and
many of the key players in Oracle Racing have deep roots
with the club.
Nonetheless, Oracle Racing and the St. Francis announced
on Saturday that they would be unable to reach an agreement
because "the St. Francis YC could not satisfy Oracle Racing's
requirements.".
St. Francis YC Commodore Steve Taft said that the negotiations
between Oracle and the St. Francis YC - which were always
"most amicable" - broke down over the issue of control of
the America's Cup effort. "Ellison wanted the St. Francis
to amend its articles of incorporation and by-laws so that
he could put three of his people on the board of directors.
But since the St. Francis is a California corporation, the
law requires they be elected.
So the club couldn't legally comply with Oracle Racing's
request even if we wanted to. Other possible solutions were
explored, such as appointing three directors that would
only have control over the Cup effort, or somehow being
able to guarantee the results of an election of a slate
of board members. But after checking with our lawyers, we
found that we couldn't legally do any of these things.".
Oracle Racing is apparently approaching the California YC
of Marina del Rey, which unlike most yacht clubs in California,
is a private club. In fact, it's owned by the Hathaway family,
which owns golf courses and other clubs. Because it is a
private club, it's possible that the California YC can give
Ellison the control of the America's Cup effort that he
requires.
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Who will challenge with Oracle ? (01/29/01)
(source : scuttlebutt)
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St. Francis Yacht Club (St.FYC) and Oracle
Racing announced today that they have ended talks aimed
at mounting a challenge for America's Cup 2003.
For the past six months, the St.FYC and Oracle Racing have
been engaged in negotiations evaluating scenarios on how
to best join forces for Americas Cup XXXI. Talks concluded
when it became apparent that St.FYC could not satisfy Oracle
Racing's requirements. St.FYC has been involved in two previous
America's Cup campaigns, most recently in 1999-2000 with
AmericaOne.
Steve Taft, Commodore of St. Francis Yacht Club expressed
disappointment that they were unable to reach an agreement.
"Many members of Oracle Racing are members of St. Francis
Yacht Club. It seemed like a perfect fit but we were not
able to structure an agreement that would benefit both parties,"
he said.
Bill Erkelens, Oracle Racing's COO, said that talks are
continuing with other clubs that have expressed interest
in challenging with the syndicate. Oracle intends to have
a challenge filed by March 1, 2001.
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Aaron
McIntosh joins Oracle Racing (01/21/01)
(source : stuff.co.nz)
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Aaron McIntosh, a three-time world boardsailing
champion, has joined the huge American Oracle Racing syndicate
skippered by Kiwi yachting icon Chris Dickson. The 29-year-old
Aucklander will be part of its weather team for the next
two years.
The Oracle weather team is headed by weather guru Bob Rice
and includes well-known Kiwi sailors Rex Sellars and Simon
Cooke. Sellars won gold in the Tornado class at the 1984
Olympics and silver at Seoul four years later. Cooke went
to the Sydney Olympics in the 470s.
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The keel snapped off one of the syndicate's
yachts during a training run in November, capsizing the
boat within minutes and forcing the crew to leap into the
water to safety.
Oracle Racing recovered the 21-tonne keel from 30 metres
of water on January 5 – after six days of trying and three
attempts, spokeswoman Gina von Esmarch said in a statement.
The keel was not likely to be used again, but Oracle wanted
to retrieve it for environmental reasons, and so it could
be studied to see why it broke. USA 61 and its new keel
will be back on the water, with its sister boat USA 49 next
week."
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Salvage
Operation for Oracle's Keel (12/07/00)
(source : NZ
Herald)
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Chris Dickson's America's Cup team have
found their keel at the bottom of the sea, but they will
have to wait for perfect conditions until it can be salvaged.
The 21-tonne keel, which fell off Oracle Racing's USA-61
yacht a fortnight ago, has been located by divers 40 metres
underwater. The lead bulb was buried two metres beneath
the sandy bottom of the Hauraki Gulf - after falling from
the boat at a speed estimated over 100km/h. It narrowly
missed hitting undersea phone cables lying nearby.
A salvage operation will be ready to go next week, dependent
on the weather. Oracle Racing plan to use the lead bulb
for the replacement keel, but a new steel fin has to be
made after the original snapped off the bottom of the boat.
The crew have continued to sail sister yacht USA-49, but
they will not be two-boat testing again for at least another
month. |
USA-61
(Oracle) Capsizes (11/23/00)
(source : NZ
Herald)
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The Oracle America's Cup yacht skipperd
by Chris Dickson (and led by US computer billionaire Larry
Ellison) capsized on the Hauraki Gulf when its keel - 20
tonnes of lead and one tonne of steel - sheared off cleanly
at the hull and sank 40m to the bottom of the gulf.
It was out two-boat racing with sister ship USA49. Dickson,
skipper of the new syndicate, was at the helm, racing against
the boat's old helmsman, Paul Cayard, in 22-knot winds and
a testing 1.5m swell.
Sailors on board the boat, from the well-heeled American
Oracle Racing challenge, heard a sharp crack as the 21-tonne
keel snapped off clean at the bottom of the hull and the
racing yacht immediately capsized. Kiwi skipper Chris Dickson
and his crew jumped and dived for their lives when their
America's Cup boat toppled over into the heaving waters
of the Hauraki Gulf.
The syndicate's two chase boats and tender went to their
rescue and Crew clambered back on board to try to right
the boat, but the hull began to take on water. With Chris
Dickson in charge of the salvage operation, pumps from the
support craft were put to use, and crewmen began bailing
out the water. Concern grew when the mast slipped below
water. The team called for more pumps and airbags. With
the help of flotation buoys, the rig was saved and the tender
was able to begin the long tow home.
The $3 million yacht (which contested this year's Louis
Vuitton Cup challenger final and lost to Italians Prada),
lashed to a barge with a crane holding the mast upright,
was towed into the basin at 3 o'clock (Auckland), where
an investigation began into how and why the keel broke off.
Oracle Racing has time on its side - it is the first challenger
for the 2003 Cup to set up in Auckland and has been sailing
here for the past month.
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Oracle
sailing on the Hauraki Gulf (10/19/00)
(source : NZ
Herald)
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Chris Dickson's America's Cup team have
found their keel at the bottom of the sea, but they will
have to wait for perfect conditions until it can be salvaged.
The 21-tonne keel, which fell off Oracle Racing's USA-61
yacht a fortnight ago, has been located by divers 40 metres
underwater. The lead bulb was buried two metres beneath
the sandy bottom of the Hauraki Gulf - after falling from
the boat at a speed estimated over 100km/h. It narrowly
missed hitting undersea phone cables lying nearby.
A salvage operation will be ready to go next week, dependent
on the weather. Oracle Racing plan to use the lead bulb
for the replacement keel, but a new steel fin has to be
made after the original snapped off the bottom of the boat.
The crew have continued to sail sister yacht USA-49, but
they will not be two-boat testing again for at least another
month.
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