Larry Ellison's America's Cup Sailing Team Has Completed One Of The Most Amazing Comebacks Ever
The keynote was supposed to happen this afternoon, the second time he was scheduled to announce new products to the 60,000 people who have descended on San Francisco for Oracle Open World, his company's annual conference.
But Ellison was a no-show. Instead, he opted to watch his sailing team continue their astounding winning streak while a different Oracle executive announced the products.
So hundreds of audience members streamed out of the auditorium to watch the race, too. The race series is being live-streamed all over the Oracle conference. Those who wanted an even better view were in luck: It's held live in the San Francisco Bay, less than a two-mile walk from the Moscone Convention Center.
They got an exciting show. New Zealand was actually ahead for most the second race, which would have clinched the Cup for them.
But Oracle came from behind and the score is now, unbelievably, tied up 8-8.
Ellison's sailing team mounted one of the most exciting comebacks in the 162-year history of the America's Cup race. In a best of 17 races series, the first team to win 9 races wins. However, Oracle was docked two "points," - or two wins - when his team was caught cheating in the preliminary race series that lead up to these finals.
No one expected Oracle to win the Cup. Emirates Team New Zealand won 8 races early on and looked like a shoo-in.
But now Oracle has won seven races in a row. If it hadn't been docked those two points, it would have hoisted the cup up over its head already.
Ellison moved hell and high water to bring the world's most prestigious sailing race, the America's Cup, to San Francisco. And it had more than its share of setbacks. Ellison chose uber-expensive boats that limited the number of teams that could afford to race. These 72-foot catamarans are so fast and dangerous that one sailor was killed in June while training for the race when the boat capsized.
Tomorrow's race will decide the winner. It's scheduled for 1:15 pm Pacific time and will be live-streamed here.