Moet Cup 2003: ORACLE BMW Racing Wins the Moet Cup and Both the Owner/Driver and Pro-Driver Series

Clinical performance by crew of USA-76 seals the overall regatta win

SAN FRANCISCO, Sept. 22 -- ORACLE BMW Racing is celebrating its first regatta win on the road to the 2007 America's Cup after defeating the 2003 America's Cup winner Team Alinghi for the Moet Cup and taking both deciding races of the Pro-Driver and Owner/Driver series. The regatta showcased the powerhouse ACC yachts racing on San Francisco Bay and both the Owner/Driver and Pro-Driver series coming down to a deciding race on the last day.

Three races took place on Saturday over shortened three leg courses and in the opening race Alinghi squared the Owner-Driver series at 2-2 after a close battle that saw gear damage to ORACLE BMW Racing as they broke their spinnaker pole on the first run whilst leading. However, it was the only low-point of the afternoon for the crew of USA-76 who responded with a 30-second win in the Pro-Driver deciding race with Gavin Brady on the helm and an afterguard of OBR CEO Chris Dickson and tactician John Kostecki. The win meant that ORACLE BMW Racing won the inaugural Moet Cup and the attention switched to the final race of the day in the Owner/Driver series.

In near-perfect conditions, Team Head Larry Ellison steered ORACLE BMW Racing to a resounding 1 minute 22 second victory as a pre-start penalty incurred by USA-76 on SUI-64 flattered the final winning delta.

Both the Alinghi and ORACLE BMW Racing teams showed exemplary sportsmanship throughout the week and their boat-handling and sailing skills were of the highest quality. For ORACLE BMW Racing, the Moet Cup is the first step on the long road to the America's Cup 2007 where the team will be Challenger of Record.

Quotes from the dockside

"A big thank you to all the team who put in so much effort and also to Ernesto Bertarelli and the Alinghi team for coming to San Francisco for a great week of sailing." ORACLE BMW Racing CEO Chris Dickson.

A day prior, America's Cup Challenger of Record ORACLE BMW Racing was tested in three races against Team Alinghi, two Pro-Driver and one Owner/Driver.

The opening Pro-Driver race got underway just after 1:30 p.m. on Friday and was effectively decided on the start as SUI-64 came off the start-line with a tiny advantage that they leveraged over ORACLE BMW Racing into a slender lead at the first mark. Both crews performed exemplary sail handling and boat-handling skills to provide a thrilling race, but when the result shook out, it was SUI-64 that took the winner's gun in the Pro-Driver series.

The second race of the afternoon saw Team Head's Larry Ellison for ORACLE BMW Racing and Ernesto Bertarelli for Alinghi resume their rivalry in the Owner/Driver series. The race unfortunately had to be abandoned after a large container ship steamed right through the course on the first downwind leg after USA-76 had won the start and rounded the first mark with a 21-second delta. It meant that SUI-64 was unfairly advantaged as they could gybe for the leeward mark first and the race committee took the decision to abandon the race. The Owner/Driver series still stood at 2-1 in favor of ORACLE BMW Racing.

The third race of the afternoon saw a resumption of the Pro-Driver series and the afterguard of CEO Chris Dickson, tactician John Kostecki and helmsman Gavin Brady put in a extremely strong performance to win the race and square the series at 3-3. In winds that varied between 18-21 knots, ORACLE BMW Racing won the start by a slender margin and then controlled the race after some fierce tacking duels just off Alcatraz Island. USA-76 enjoyed a 39-second advantage at the first mark and went on to record a 30-second race win. It set the stage for a classic showdown to establish the winner of the 2003 Moet Cup.

Quotes from Dockside

"If we had been in contact with the local shipping authorities we couldn't have timed the arrival of that ship any better. We needed something like that and we couldn't believe our luck! The race committee did the right thing to abandon the race." Simon Daubney, Team Alinghi trimmer.

"The pressure is up and it all comes down to tomorrow. We just need to keep on improving but everyone is feeling pretty good. We just have to go out and sail a good race." Gavin Brady, ORACLE BMW Racing helmsman.