When the 11th race of the 2013 America’s Cup came to an end on September 18, tech tycoon Larry Ellison’s Oracle Team USA found themselves losing 8-3.
There is no good way to lose. There is however, a bad way. Being the favorite, playing at home, and having the superior talent are all ingredients in the recipe for success. Eleven races into the 34th America’s Cup, Team USA hadn’t even left for the market yet.
When people discuss what happened next, nobody will ever truly get it right. Nobody outside the team will be able to explain, and justify, the events that followed. First-hand accounts will turn into legend and legend into myth. Oracle Team USA went on to win the next eight races, en route to capturing the Cup 11 games to 8, and 9 points to 8.
While the mentioning of Oracle in any capacity brings Ellison, who recently purchased a large portion of Carbon Beach in Malibu (home to the new Nobu on the water), to mind, the stars of the show were his race team and their ship.
They are an 11-man team, and she is the AC72, an upgrade from the AC45 (46 through 71 are still missing) and an incredible piece of innovation and ingenuity.
As the 11 members of his team pulled and turned and twisted together over those remarkable eight wins, one thing was certain; it takes a specific, and highly skilled unit, performing in synchronicity to achieve such success at 55-mph and a 45-degree angle, soaking wet.