Software tycoon and sailor Larry Ellison questioned the safety of the Persian Gulf port picked for the America’s Cup showdown between his US-based crew and the defending champion, Alinghi of Switzerland.
Ellison, the Oracle Corp founder and CEO who owns BMW Oracle Racing, said on Tuesday he had never been to Ras al-Khaimah in the United Arab Emirates, which was named last week by Alinghi as the port for the best-of-three race starting on Feb. 8 for the oldest trophy in international sports.
“I don’t exactly know what to say,” Ellison said during the official presentation of his crew and the giant trimaran it will sail. “I think they picked it because it’s very light winds. I’m a little bit concerned because it’s less than 100 miles [160km] from Iran, so we’re all concerned about the safety of our crew and our shore crew and everyone getting set up there.”
PHOTO: REUTERS
Ras al-Khaimah is on the southern end of the Persian Gulf and not far from the Strait of Hormuz, which separates the peninsula from Iran.
“People say, ‘Oh my God, the Emirates, that’s where Roger Federer trains for tennis and that’s where Formula One races,’” said Ellison, who will sail aboard the 90 foot (27m) trimaran.
“Not this part of the Emirates. There’s an oil depot, we’re concerned about electricity, we’re concerned about a lot of things. We’re concerned about the proximity to Iran,” he said.
PHOTO: REUTERS
“I know a lot of people in the UAE. We like them a lot. Oracle does do a lot of business with the UAE. Nothing bad to say about the UAE at all, but we are concerned about the suitability of this particular venue for a race like this,” Ellison said.
BMW Oracle Racing is backed by San Francisco’s Golden Gate Yacht Club. It has been testing its space age-looking trimaran in San Diego since last autumn and will be there until November.
The legal bickering aside, the showdown between two of the fastest sailboats ever built is expected to provide the most extreme, spectacular racing in the 158-year history of the America’s Cup.
The rare one-on-one match is the result of a convoluted, two-year court fight between billionaires Ellison and biotech tycoon Ernesto Bertarelli, who owns Alinghi and its 27m catamaran, Alinghi 5.
Ellison said BMW Oracle Racing would likely be back in court regarding rules, on-the-water umpires and the race jury.
“It is impossible for us to win if they control the jury and the umpires,” Ellison said after spending a few hours on the Pacific Ocean on the trimaran, with actor Harrison Ford as his guest.
“Can’t. They’ve got to let us win — ‘OK, they beat us on the water, we’re going to choose not to disqualify you because we’re nice guys.’ You think Ernesto’s not going to disqualify us? Now, we hope the court will say that Alinghi cannot control the jury and Alinghi cannot control the umpires and Alinghi cannot make any rule it wants one minute before the race starts. I think we’ll be successful,” Ellison said.
Also on Tuesday, BMW Oracle Racing named Australian Jimmy Spithill as helmsman for its races with Alinghi.
Spithill will be sailing in his fourth America’s Cup.
The 30-year-old Spithill sailed with Young Australia in 1999-2000, when he was the youngest skipper in America’s Cup history. He also sailed for US syndicate OneWorld in 2002-2003 and Italy’s Luna Rossa in 2007.
New Zealander Russell Coutts, one of the most dominant skippers in America’s Cup history, is BMW Oracle Racing’s skipper and CEO.
Ellison said Ford enjoyed himself.
“He said it was one of the best days of his life. Maybe that was an exaggeration, but it’s an awful lot of fun sailing that boat,” Ellison said.
RECORD DEFEAT: The Shanghai-based ‘Oriental Sports Daily’ said the drubbing was so disastrous, and taste so bitter, that all that is left is ‘numbness’ Chinese soccer fans and media rounded on the national team yesterday after they experienced fresh humiliation in a 7-0 thrashing to rivals Japan in their opening Group C match in the third phase of Asian qualifying for the 2026 World Cup. The humiliation in Saitama on Thursday against Asia’s top-ranked team was China’s worst defeat in World Cup qualifying and only a goal short of their record 8-0 loss to Brazil in 2012. Chinese President Xi Jinping once said he wanted China to host and even win the World Cup one day, but that ambition looked further away than ever after a
Taiwanese badminton superstar Lee Yang broke down in tears after publicly retiring from the sport on Sunday. The two-time Olympic gold medalist held a retirement ceremony at the Taipei Arena after the final matches of the Taipei Open. Accompanied by friends, family and former badminton partners, Lee burst into tears while watching a video celebrating key moments in his professional sporting career that also featured messages from international players such as Malaysia’s Teo Ee Yi, Hong Kong’s Tang Chun-man, and Indonesia’s Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan. “I hope that in the future when the world thinks about me, they will
Former Formosa Dreamers player Ilkan Karaman was killed in a traffic accident in Datca, Turkey, Turkish media reported yesterday. He was 34. The former Turkish national team player was reportedly hit by a car, the driver of which was allegedly drunk, while he was standing on a sidewalk, Turkish newspaper Sozcu reported. Karaman and his friends were on their way to the beach town of Dalaman to go scuba diving when they stopped at a gas station to buy gasoline, it reported. Karaman was hit by the car while waiting on a sidewalk as his friends were buying gasoline, it
ANKLE PROBLEM: Taiwan’s Ye Hong-wei and Lee Chia-hsin had a disappointing end to their tournament after an injury forced them out of their mixed doubles semi-final Taiwanese badminton ace Tai Tzu-ying on Friday was knocked out in the women’s singles quarter-finals at her last Taipei Open. The world No. 3 lost 21-18, 16-21, 22-24 to Putri Kusuma Wardani of Indonesia in a match that stretched 68 minutes at the Taipei Arena. Despite her higher ranking, Tai said she was not too sad about the loss, given her struggle with a lingering knee injury. “Wins and losses are just part of the game. Actually, I think I’m going to lose every single match considering my condition now,” said the five-time champion of the Super 300 event, who has announced plans