SailJuice Blog

If you want a job done well, do it yourself. Isn’t that what they say? Larry Ellison clearly took this advice to heart when he beat some of the world’s best match racers to win the RC44 Cagliari Cup yesterday, including some of his own handsomely-paid full-time employees. Yes, he had Russell Coutts on board calling tactics and a bunch of other pros from his own BMW Oracle Racing team, but there’s only so much help a helmsman can get. In match racing you have to make decisions in the blink of an eye, so all credit to Larry, age 63 ½.

“I am very lucky because it is an owner’s class with pro sailors steering the match and Russell let me steer his boat,” said the sexagenarian billionaire. “I think that this is an amazing accomplishment, and I am very proud of what we have done.” Cor blimey, Larry, not half! Take a look at the people who he beat: the boy wonder James Spithill, Ben Ainslie, etc. Down at the bottom of the pile there’s Jes-Gram Hansen, along with Spithill the stand-out match racing helmsman of the 32nd America’s Cup, and last week’s Star World Champion, Mateusz Kusnierewicz.

Spithill was disappointed with his performance, but gave much praise to Larry. Well he would, wouldn’t he! He’s on the BOR pay roll! “We are very happy to finish the event in second. It was absolutely superb. I am very impressed by Larry Ellison’s performance. He sailed extremely well. It’s his first time on this boat, with this team, and the level of the fleet is just huge. What he’s done is amazing.”

Some people laugh at Larry for wanting to steer his own boat in the America’s Cup whenever BMW Oracle is clear ahead, but on the strength of this performance he can’t be that much of a hand brake on the team. Expect to see Larry at the helm of an Extreme 40 catamaran any time soon! A bit of practice for that other match race event coming up sometime in the next year…

(Mark rounding photo: Francesco Nonnoi; on-board photo: Gilles Martin-Raget)

Results from the RC44 Cagliari Cup

(Name of team, helmsman, No of victories / defeats, points)

1) BMW ORACLE Racing, Larry Ellison, 8/1 – 8 points
2) Team Ceeref, James Spithill, 7/2 – 7 points
3) Team Banco Espirito Santo, Ben Ainslie, 6/3 – 6 points
4) Team Aqua, Cameron Appleton 6/3 – 6 points
5) Cro-A-Sail, Morten Henrikson / Miroslav Reljanovic, 5/4 – 5 points
6) Team Hiroshi – Città di Milano, Sébastien Col 5/4 – 4 points (1 penalty)
7) Sea Dubai, Markus Wieser 4/5 – 4 points
8 Team Beecom, Jesper Radich 3/6 – 3 points
9) Mascalzone Latino, Jes Gram Hansen 0/9 – 0 point
9) Team Organika, Mateusz Kusznierewicz 0/9 – 0 point

Question: Should Larry put his employees on half-wages until they’ve proven they can beat him in a match race?