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| America's Cup victory for Oracle Team USA after stunning comeback | America's Cup victory for Oracle Team USA after stunning comeback |
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| Orcale Team USA completed a remarkable comeback on Wednesday, winning the America's Cup after a nailbiting final race in San Francisco bay. | Orcale Team USA completed a remarkable comeback on Wednesday, winning the America's Cup after a nailbiting final race in San Francisco bay. |
| All but defeated a week ago, Oracle Team USA forced a winner-takes-all decider against Emirates Team New Zealand. | All but defeated a week ago, Oracle Team USA forced a winner-takes-all decider against Emirates Team New Zealand. |
| The Americans recovered twice from seven-point deficits to win 9-8 Wednesday. | The Americans recovered twice from seven-point deficits to win 9-8 Wednesday. |
| For Skipper Jimmy Spithill and his crew, it was one of the greatest comebacks in sporting history. Owned by software billionaire Larry Ellison, Oracle Team USA was docked two points for illegally modifying boats in warmup regatta. They had to win 11 races to retain the trophy. | For Skipper Jimmy Spithill and his crew, it was one of the greatest comebacks in sporting history. Owned by software billionaire Larry Ellison, Oracle Team USA was docked two points for illegally modifying boats in warmup regatta. They had to win 11 races to retain the trophy. |
| The buildup to this year's event was marred by accidents, boycotts and bickering. Then Oracle rejigged its crew, replacing tactician John Kostecki, a Bay Area native, with Ben Ainslie, a Briton who has won four Olympic golds. | The buildup to this year's event was marred by accidents, boycotts and bickering. Then Oracle rejigged its crew, replacing tactician John Kostecki, a Bay Area native, with Ben Ainslie, a Briton who has won four Olympic golds. |
| The drama of the greatest comeback in the cup's 162-year history has saved it. Gripes have turned into wonder at the spectacle of two huge catamarans, specially built for this event and crewed with elite sailors, duelling at more than 50mph. | |
| "Just when you thought it was safe to leave the water, the America's Cup has blossomed into a fantastic affair," marvelled the San Francisco Chronicle before Wednesday's final race Just a few weeks ago, the paper had floated a rather different comparison during the preliminary Louis Vuitton Cup: "Perhaps the worst nautical launch since the Titanic set off across the North Atlantic." | |
| The about-turn came after Oracle's superstar sailors lost eight of the first 11 races. Ellison, who famously hates to lose, looked like he was going to lose. In a bold move the team replaced personnel. To widespread astonishment, Oracle then won nine of 13 races, including the two wins on Tuesday which tied the contest. Even when the Kiwis started with an advantage, the Oracle crew found a way to overtake. | |
| "The boat is just getting faster and faster," said Spithill. "The boys are really starting to believe now. There's a lot of good energy on board." | |
| The Team New Zealand skipper, Dean Barker, called Tuesday's latest losses "an absolute shocker" and faulted himself for making a premature approach to the line, incurring a penalty. | |
| The American side has actually won 10 of 18 races, having begun two races down because of a penalty for cheating in the America's Cup world series. | |
| Ellison missed a keynote speech he was due to deliver at the Oracle OpenWorld conference to watch Tuesday's race, a scene Hollywood will surely mine should it make a movie. | |
| A few months ago the America's Cup was in deep trouble. What was billed as a glory of California's summer – 15 teams competing for sailing's most prestigious prize, generating $1.4bn in the process – had shrivelled into a bickering rump of just four teams. Accidents destroyed or damaged two catamarans and killed Andrew Simpson, a British Olympic gold medallist with Sweden's Artemis Racing team, prompting rule changes. | |
| Italy's Luna Rossa Challenge team sat out some Louis Vuitton races – the warm-up contest to select the challenger – in protest. A major sponsor demanded a refund and San Francisco braced for a financial loss instead of a promised bonanza. | |
| Oracle's initial rout deepened the sense of debacle as the main event got under way. Then began the comeback, and a cup dismissed as a tycoons' bauble became nail-biting drama. | |
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