DEVELOPING: Alinghi Out For America's Cup 2013

Former America's Cup champ Alinghi of Switzerland won't try to win it back the next time the trophy is up for grabs- 2013.

Alinghi spokesman Paco Latorre said the syndicate will skip the 34th America's Cup, and focus on a series that races 40-foot catamarans.

"After a careful evaluation of the protocol and other initiatives taken by the American Defender and its Challenger of Record, Alinghi considers that the existing conditions make it impossible for the team to participate in the 34th America's Cup," Latorre said in a statement.

Owned by Swiss tycoon Ernesto Bertarelli, Alinghi won the America's Cup in 2003 and successfully defended it in 2007, but they were beaten in two straight races by San Francisco-based BMW Oracle Racing off Valencia, Spain, in the 33rd America's Cup last February.

Larry Ellison and Bertarelli fought in the courts for two-and-a-half years trying to determine the rules of the race... all of the rules...

Here's Race 2 and the clincher from last time...
((HT: youtube))

Warriors Sold For 450-Large, So Much For NBA Owner Poverty

Now, if this doesn't fly in the face of the NBA owners talking lock-out due to poverty, the HQ doesn't know what does, really...

The league came out recently saying its member franchise lost close to $400-million last season- that came direct from Commissioner Stern's mouth...

So, what happens when the Golden State Warriors are coming out to play...???

A $450-million sale, and it wasn't even to Oracle's Larry Ellison. Ellison, apparently when asked, said he put together a higher bid, but owner-nutcake Chris Cohan went with Boston Celtics minority partner Joe Lacob and Mandalay Entertainment CEO Peter Guber instead.

The sale price breaks the record of $401 million set when Robert Sarver bought the Phoenix Suns in 2004.

Lacob is also the managing director and partner at private equity firm Kleiner Perkins. Gotta enjoy those private equity firms that seem to create money out of thin air...

KPIX-TV/CBS5's Kim Coyle called Lacob in Europe, and woke him up from something...


Ellison will now focus his time on figuring out whether or not the next America's Cup will be mono-hull or multi-hull...

BREAKING NEWS: BMW Oracle Takes America's Cup 2-0

BMW Oracle Racing/USA crosses the finish line first off the coast of Valencia, Spain and takes the America's Cup subject to any protest ((Alinghi was flying a red flag off their boat)).

It is the first time that a challenger ((pictured beating Alinghi early on in Race 2, thanks bmor-photo.com)) has won a Deed of Gift match. USA wins 2-0. BMW helmsman Russell Coutts remains unbeaten in the America's Cup match, winning 15 Cup match races on board.

After leading by 28 seconds around the first mark, BMW ORACLE Racing literally flew down the second leg of the race, extending its lead to 2:44.

Larry Ellison's victory ended one of the most bitter chapters in the history of the America's Cup. He and Alinghi head Ernesto Bertarelli fought over their interpretations of the 1887 Deed of Gift, which governs the America's Cup.

Ellison's syndicate eventually prevailed, forcing the rare head-to-head showdown.

This was only the second Deed of Gift match in modern times. The other was in 1988, when Conner steered his catamaran to a two-race sweep of New Zealand's big monohull in San Diego.

The America's Cup should return to its normal system of several challengers competing in sloops for the right to face the defender.

The final margin of victory was almost 5-and-a-half minutes...

"It's absolutely an awesome feeling," said Ellison, the CEO of Oracle Corp. "I'm very proud to be a part of this team."

See what happens when it goes out of the courts and actually in to the water...???

Here's the highlights of Race 2, thanks to BMW Oracle racing their ownselves...

BMW Oracle Takes Race 1 of America's Cup

The USA has delivered a victory for challenger BMW Oracle Racing against two-time defending champion Alinghi of Switzerland in first race of the 33rd America's Cup.

Owned by Silicon Valley maverick Larry Ellison and steered by Australian Jimmy Spithill, the black-and-white USA boat flew over the Mediterranean Sea powered by a223-foot wing sail- bigger than the wing on the world's biggest passenger airliner.

USA recovered from an error at the start to beat the catamaran Alinghi 5 by 10minutes, 5 seconds after a 40-mile windward-leeward race.

BMW Oracle Racing is one win away from bringing the America's Cup back to the United
States for the first time since Dennis Conner lost it to Team New Zealand in 1995.

Here's early highlights from the beginning...


"The difference was the speed of the boats. The solution they have come up with on Oracle is very fast. It's pretty hard to beat them on a day like today," said Brad Butterworth, Alinghi team skipper and tactician.

Race 2 is set for Sunday off the coast of Spain- weather and wind permitting...