AC 72 Team Oracle boats photo D Ramey Logan

Oracle Team USA is an American

yacht racing Yacht racing is a Sailing (sport), sailing sport involving sailing yachts and larger sailboats, as distinguished from dinghy racing, which involves open boats. It is composed of multiple yachts, in direct competition, racing around a course mark ...

syndicate initially formed to compete for the 2003

America's Cup The America's Cup is a sailing competition and the oldest international competition still operating in any sport. America's Cup match races are held between two sailing yachts: one from the yacht club that currently holds the trophy (known ...

. They competed again in the 2007 event before winning the

33rd America's Cup The 33rd America's Cup between Société Nautique de Genève defending with team Alinghi against Golden Gate Yacht Club, and their racing team BMW Oracle Racing was the subject of extensive court action and litigation, surpassing in acrimony eve ...

regatta in 2010 – representing the

Golden Gate Yacht Club The Golden Gate Yacht Club (GGYC) is a San Francisco, California, U.S. based yacht club founded in 1939. History In 1939 the first members built a clubhouse on a barge in the San Francisco Marina. After the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake severely ...

. The team also won the

34th America's Cup The 34th America's Cup was a series of yacht races held in San Francisco Bay in September 2013. The series was contested between the defender Oracle Team USA team representing the Golden Gate Yacht Club, and the challenger Emirates Team New Zeala ...

in 2013. The syndicate was initially named ''Oracle'' for the 2003 campaign and backed primarily by

Larry Ellison Lawrence Joseph Ellison (born August 17, 1944) is an American businessman and entrepreneur who co-founded software company Oracle Corporation. He was Oracle's chief executive officer from 1977 to 2014 and is now its chief technology officer a ...

, the co-founder and

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

Oracle Corporation Oracle Corporation is an American Multinational corporation, multinational computer technology company headquartered in Austin, Texas. Co-founded in 1977 in Santa Clara, California, by Larry Ellison, who remains executive chairman, Oracle was ...

, but was renamed in August 2004 to ''Oracle

BMW Bayerische Motoren Werke AG, trading as BMW Group (commonly abbreviated to BMW (), sometimes anglicised as Bavarian Motor Works), is a German multinational manufacturer of vehicles and motorcycles headquartered in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. Th ...

Racing'' to reflect the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

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 by mutual agreement of both partners, BMW was bringing to a close its longstanding partnership with Oracle Racing and thereby ending its involvement in the America's Cup. Subsequently, the syndicate was renamed to ''Oracle Team USA'' to compete for the 2013 34th America's Cup.

History

31st America's Cup (2003)

The team was created by purchasing the assets of Paul Cayard’s AmericaOne syndicate which was the losing finalist against

Luna Rossa Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli, originally named Prada Challenge, then Luna Rossa Challenge, is an Italian sailboat racing syndicate first created to compete for the 2000 America's Cup. It won the Louis Vuitton Cup on its first attempt in 2000, but t ...

in the 2000

Louis Vuitton Cup The Louis Vuitton Cup is the name of the Challenger (America's Cup), Challenger Selection Series sailing competition from 1983, named after its Sponsor (commercial), sponsor, Louis Vuitton. The winner of the competition became the Challenger (A ...

. The syndicate got off to a rocky start with changes in the skipper position, alternating between Cayard and Chris Dickson, to Dickson alone, to

Peter Holmberg Peter William Holmberg (born October 4, 1960) is a sailor from the U.S. Virgin Islands, who won a silver medal in Men's Finn class at the 1988 Summer Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () ...

, and then back to Dickson. Bob Wylie was a key member of the 2003 team contributing mainly to the tactics. Oracle reached the finals of the

2003 Louis Vuitton Cup The 6th Louis Vuitton Cup was held in Auckland, New Zealand, in 2003. The winner, Alinghi, went on to challenge for and win the 2003 America's Cup. Teams The Yacht Club Punta Ala was the challenger of record. Alinghi Founded by Swiss business ...

, losing to

Alinghi Alinghi, or Alinghi Red Bull Racing because of the sports marketing branding by Red Bull, is the syndicate set up by Ernesto Bertarelli, racing under the colors of the Société Nautique de Genève, to challenge for the America's Cup, as well ...

5–1.

32nd America's Cup (2007)

BMW Oracle Racing Oracle Team USA is an American yacht 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. ...

through the GGYC was the Challenger-of-Record for the

2007 America’s Cup The 2007 America's Cup was the thirty-second challenge for the America's Cup and was won by Alinghi in the 7th race. The Cup is the most famous and most prestigious regatta and ''Match Race'' in the sport of sailing. As per the Deed of Gift of ...

which was held in

Valencia Valencia ( , ), formally València (), is the capital of the Province of Valencia, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, the same name in Spain. It is located on the banks of the Turia (r ...

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

. BMW Oracle Racing, lost to Luna Rossa Challenge 5 to 1 in the

2007 Louis Vuitton Cup The 2007 Louis Vuitton Cup held in Valencia, Spain, from April 16 to June 6 was the event used to select the challenger for the 2007 America's Cup. Eleven potential challengers competed in the competition which consisted of two round robins, two ...

Semi Finals.

33rd America's Cup (2010)

Larry Ellison hired

Russell Coutts Sir Russell Coutts (born 1 March 1962) is a world champion New Zealand yachtsman. He won an Olympic gold medal and skippered three Americas Cup victories in 1995, 2000, and 2003. Early life Coutts was educated at Otago Boys' High School ...

to be the CEO of the

campaign. In July 2007, the

, sponsoring BMW Oracle Racing, filed a challenge with the

Société Nautique de Genève The Société Nautique de Genève is a yacht club based in Geneva (Switzerland). It was founded in 1872 with the goal of developing nautical sports and high level sailors. Currently the club has about 3000 members. The club held the America's Cup ...

for the

stating that they did not believe that SNG's hand picked challenger, Club Náutico Español de Vela (CNEV) was a qualified club under the

Deed of Gift A deed of gift is a signed legal document that voluntarily and without recompense transfers ownership of real, personal, or intellectual propertysuch as a gift of materialsfrom one person or institution to another. It should include any possibl ...

. After extensive court action,

was declared Challenger of Record and sailed against SNG's team: Alinghi, in February 2010 in

. The competing boats, ''

Alinghi 5 ''Alinghi 5'' is a (waterline length, LWL), beam sloop-rigged catamaran built by Alinghi for the America's Cup (33rd edition), 33rd America's Cup. The boat was launched on 8 July 2009 when the hull was lifted from the construction shed in Vi ...

'' and '' USA 17'' were both 90-foot multihulls. BMW Oracle Racing won the America's Cup on February 14, 2010, off Valencia, Spain, beating ''Alinghi'' 2–0 in the best-of-three series and becoming the first American syndicate to win the cup since 1992. The rigid wing sail of ''USA 17'' provided a decisive advantage and Golden Gate Yacht Club won the

2010 America's Cup The 33rd America's Cup between Société Nautique de Genève defending with team Alinghi against Golden Gate Yacht Club, and their racing team BMW Oracle Racing was the subject of extensive court action and litigation, surpassing in acrimony ev ...

by a considerable margin.

2011–13 America's Cup World Series

Oracle Team USA competed in the 2011–13 America's Cup World Series. In August 2013, the competition jury received a report from Oracle Team USA that their boat and others they had loaned had unauthorized modifications. The team withdrew from the competition on 8 August 2013. Penalties imposed included expelling three team members, a $250,000 fine, and a one-point penalty for each of the first two races of the Match in which they would otherwise score a point.

34th America's Cup (2013)

Oracle Team USA's Larry Ellison declared that the 34th America's Cup would be sailed on

AC72 The AC72 (America's Cup 72 class) is a class of wingsail catamarans built to a box rule, which governs the construction and operation of yachts competing in the 2013 Louis Vuitton and the America's Cup races. The class was subsequently replaced ...

class wing-sail

catamarans A catamaran () (informally, a "cat") is a watercraft with two parallel hull (watercraft), hulls of equal size. The wide distance between a catamaran's hulls imparts stability through resistance to rolling and overturning; no ballast is requi ...

. Oracle Team USA experienced the first major accident involving the new AC72 class, when the boat capsized during training off

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

on October 16, 2012. Oracle Team USA successfully defended the trophy and won the 2013 America's Cup on September 25, 2013. They accomplished this achievement by coming back from 7 points down and one point away from defeat in the series, and completing the largest in-series comeback in America's Cup history. ''

The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' (''WSJ''), also referred to simply as the ''Journal,'' is an American newspaper based in New York City. The newspaper provides extensive coverage of news, especially business and finance. It operates on a subscriptio ...

'' later called it "one of the greatest comebacks in sports history".

2015–16 America's Cup World Series

Oracle Team USA was runner up in

2015–16 America's Cup World Series The second America's Cup World Series were held between 2015 and 2016 in the lead up to the 2017 America's Cup. The series was won by Land Rover BAR and confers two points towards the 2017 Louis Vuitton Cup. The runner up was Oracle Team USA ...

35th America's Cup (2017)

Oracle Team USA was the defender of the

35th America's Cup The 2017 America's Cup was the 35th staging of the America's Cup yacht race. The challenger, Emirates Team New Zealand, won by a score of 7 to 1 over the defender, Oracle Team USA. It was held on the Great Sound in Bermuda from June 17 to June 2 ...

. The event took place in the Great Sound of Bermuda in 2017, with challenger selection through the

2017 Louis Vuitton Cup The 2017 Louis Vuitton Challenger's Trophy (officially, the Trophy was given to the winner of the 2017 Louis Vuitton America's Cup Challenger Playoffs) was a sailing competition held to determine the challenger in the 2017 America's Cup. The tourn ...

on June 5–25. The finals against

Emirates Team New Zealand Team New Zealand or TNZ is a sailing team based in Auckland, New Zealand, representing the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron. The team has been branded as Emirates Team New Zealand at America's Cup competitions since 2007. Team New Zealand be ...

were June 17–26. The new

AC50 The AC50 (defined in the America's Cup rules as AC Class yacht, or ACC) was a wingsail catamaran development rule that governed the construction of the yachts used in the 2017 Louis Vuitton Cup and the 2017 America's Cup. Like the larger AC72s ...

class rule governed the races; Oracle Team USA launched their yacht in February 2017. Oracle Team USA ultimately lost the challenge 7–1 to Emirates Team New Zealand.

36th America's Cup (2021)

Oracle Team USA did not issue a challenge within the initial challenging deadline for the 36th America’s Cup presented by Prada, June 30, 2018, ending Oracle's fifteen year presence in the Cup races. Oracle Team USA skipper James Spithill previously indicated he was returning to challenging team Luna Rossa for that competition.

Boats

The BMW Oracle/Oracle USA team has owned a number of boats, including: * '' USA 71'', trial boat for the 2003 America’s Cup. * '' USA 76'', race boat for the 2003 America’s Cup. * '' USA 87'', used in preparations for the 2007 Louis Vuitton Cup. * '' USA 98'', raced in the

Louis Vuitton Cup 2007 The 2007 Louis Vuitton Cup held in Valencia, Spain, from April 16 to June 6 was the event used to select the challenger for the 2007 America's Cup. Eleven potential challengers competed in the competition which consisted of two round robins, two ...

campaign. * '' USA 17'', trimaran. Sailing with a rigid wing sail, she won the

, in a

match against SNG/Alinghi Valencia. * ''17'', an

catamaran for the 2013 America's Cup defence. Extensively damaged in a 16 October 2012 capsize. * ''

Oracle Team USA 17 ''Oracle Team USA 17'' is an AC72 class catamaran of Oracle Team USA that successfully defended the 2013 America's Cup. The yacht was donated to the Mariners' Museum in Newport News, Virginia, where as of 2017 it is on display. Career ''Oracle ...

'', an AC72

catamaran A catamaran () (informally, a "cat") is a watercraft with two parallel hull (watercraft), hulls of equal size. The wide distance between a catamaran's hulls imparts stability through resistance to rolling and overturning; no ballast is requi ...

. Successfully defended in the

2013 America's Cup The 34th America's Cup was a regatta, series of yacht races held in San Francisco Bay in September 2013. The series was contested between the defender Oracle Team USA team representing the Golden Gate Yacht Club, and the challenger Emirates Team ...

. * ''17'',

wing sail

. Unsuccessfully defended the

2017 America's Cup The 2017 America's Cup was the 35th staging of the America's Cup yacht race. The challenger, Emirates Team New Zealand, won by a score of 7 to 1 over the defender, Oracle Team USA. It was held on the Great Sound in Bermuda from June 17 to June 2 ...

Miscellaneous

The team also appeared on the Series 20 premiere of ''

Top Gear Top Gear may refer to: * "Top gear", the highest gear available in a vehicle's manual transmission Television * ''Top Gear'' (1977 TV series), a British motoring magazine programme * ''Top Gear'' (2002 TV series), a relaunched version of the ori ...

'', emerging victorious in what was called by some a ''Cat Vs. Car'' race. Set in New Zealand, it matched Oracle in its AC45 with

James May James Daniel May (born 16 January 1963) is an English television presenter and journalist. He is best known as a co-presenter, alongside Jeremy Clarkson and Richard Hammond, of the motoring programme ''Top Gear (2002 TV series), Top Gear'' fr ...

as a passenger against

Jeremy Clarkson Jeremy Charles Robert Clarkson (born 11 April 1960) is an English television presenter, journalist, farmer, and author who specialises in Driving, motoring. He is best known for hosting the television programmes ''Top Gear (2002 TV series), T ...

in a rented

Toyota Corolla The is a series of compact cars (formerly Subcompact car, subcompact) manufactured and marketed globally by the Japanese automaker Toyota Motor Corporation. Introduced in 1966, the Corolla was the best-selling car worldwide by 1974 and has bee ...

Toyota Auris The is a compact car derived from the Corolla, manufactured and sold by Toyota. Introduced in 2006, the first generation three/five-door hatchback shared the platform with the E150 series Corolla, while the second generation five-door hatchb ...

from the northern tip of the

Coromandel Peninsula The Coromandel Peninsula () on the North Island of New Zealand extends north from the western end of the Bay of Plenty, forming a natural barrier protecting the Hauraki Gulf and the Firth of Thames in the west from the Pacific Ocean ...

to the northern tip of New Zealand's

North Island The North Island ( , 'the fish of Māui', historically New Ulster) is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, islands of New Zealand, separated from the larger but less populous South Island by Cook Strait. With an area of , it is the List ...

References

External links

Oracle RacingGolden Gate Yacht Club
{{Authority control 2000 establishments in the United States Oracle Team USA Larry Ellison