Sometime in February of 2010, the BMW Oracle Racing 90 will be slicing the waters off the coast of the United Arab Emirates in an effort to win back the world’s oldest sports trophy, the America’s Cup, which made its debut about 1850. It will take all the state-of-the-art design, technology and crew experience that BMW can muster, but the skipper and crew are confident they will prevail in the best-of-three series.

The BMW Oracle syndicate, backed primarily by Oracle software billionaire Larry Ellison, changed its name to BMW Oracle Racing to reflect the increased involvement of BMW and, after a somewhat lengthy court battle, became the Challenger of Record (against Alinghi, the New Zealand Cup defender) for the match that starts February 8, 2010. The boats will be 90-foot multi-hulls, but the exact timing, format and even venue may change due to the ongoing litigation.

After adding what was then their newest boat in 2007, the BMW Oracle Racing team now has four International America’s Cup Class (IACC) boats – the USA 71 and USA 76, built for the 2003 America’s Cup race, and the USA 87 and USA 98, crafted for the 2007 America’s Cup. However, the challenger in 2010 will be the Oracle Racing 90. This state-of-the-art trimaran measures 90 feet length-on-water and 100 feet overall, and was launched on August 22, 2008.

Larry Ellison, a shrewd businessman, proved to be a shrewd sailor as well when he named Russell Coutts to be the Oracle 90’s CEO and skipper. Coutts is one of the most high profile America’s Cup skippers, having won the trophy three times. He has named James Spithill as helmsman for the Oracle Racing 90. The 30-year old Spithill will be sailing in his fourth America’s Cup.

Ellison, as confident on deck as he is in the boardroom, says, “We are pushing ourselves to the limit, and we’re discovering what the boat can do and what we can do as a team. If we’ve done our job well, we’ll go out and race this boat and win the America’s Cup.”

While still undergoing testing in sea-trials, the BOR 90 (BMW Oracle 90) will have a few more tests and tweaks before emerging. CEO and skipper Russell Coutts says, “The America’s Cup is an incredible challenge. There are so many factors just to get to the start line. This time is perhaps even more challenging than in recent history. But, this is what makes this event so rewarding when you do achieve the goal.”

Representing the Golden Gate Yacht Club, BMW Oracle Racing will continue their testing in San Diego until November, and skipper Ellison promises to leave no stone unturned to bring back to the United States the oldest trophy in sports – the America’s Cup.

Perhaps CEO Ellison will prove to be a bit of an oracle himself!