BMW Oracle update

Boats and crew arrive in Malmo

Malmö, Sweden. The Malmö regattas cap a busy summer on all fronts of the BMW Oracle Racing program."On the design side, we completed five months of two-boat testing last month and now we are in an important phase of our design program," said team CEO Chris Dickson.

"On the sailing side, we have had some changes to the race crew while maintaining an intense competition schedule with three different teams out match racing in the week leading up to Malmö. The team is looking forward to the America's Cup racing in Sweden and taking on this competitive fleet in Malmö."

In Malmö, the racing afterguard includes Chris Dickson returning as skipper. Dickson will also take on the role of helmsman and will be joined by Larry Ellison, Gavin Brady, Eric Doyle and Ian Burns. Brady will be tactician, Doyle the strategist, and Burns is temporarily in the navigator's slot. American Peter Isler returns as navigator for the final Acts of the season in Trapani, Italy.

"The changes are all with an eye on the long-term goal of winning the America's Cup in 2007," Dickson said. "We are determined to improve our performance. Change can be positive and invigorating. The guys have been working hard and we are building a winning team spirit. We will be giving it our best shot to be on top of the leaderboard for Louis Vuitton Acts six and seven. With four Acts to go in 2005, we still have the opportunity to finish the season where we want to be."

The team shipped its race yacht USA 76, support vessels and containers of gear, together with the race yachts of the 11 other competing America's Cup teams, from Valencia to the Swedish port on the Baltic Sea. The gear was unloaded on Monday 15th August and by Friday 19th August, the race crew was out practicing.

The America's Cup fleet of 12 ACC yachts lined up bow-to-bow in the event boat park in Malmö is an impressive sight. "It's fun for us to take the racing to a new audience in Sweden," Dickson said. "The city of Malmö is giving us a warm welcome and the racing promises to be as exciting as ever."

Racing in the Malmö-Skåne Louis Vuitton Acts begins on Thursday 25th of August with the match races of Act six, followed by a three day fleet racing series (Act seven) starting on the second of September. The 2005 racing season for the 32nd America's Cup concludes in Trapani, Sicily at the end of September.

The BMW ORACLE Racing sailing team in Malmö (Crew member/Nationality/Team Number):

Ian Baker, NZL, 19; David Blanchfield, AUS, 70; Mark Bradford, AUS, 21; Gavin Brady, NZL, 5; David Brooke, NZL, 10; Ian Burns, AUS, 42; Sean Clarkson, NZL, 9; Julien Cressant, FRA, 3; Rodney Daniel, AUS, 72; Chris Dickson, NZL, 11; Eric Doyle, USA, 14; Larry Ellison, USA, 17; Jamie Gale, NZL; 12; Ross Halcrow, NZL, 4; Zach Hurst, NZL, 25; Phil Jameson, NZL, 13; Brian MacInnes, CAN, 44; Craig Monk, NZL, 15; Robbie Naismith, NZL, 38; Bertrand Pace, FRA, 33; Ed Smyth, NZL, 32; Kazuhiko Sofuku, JPN, 23; Joe Spooner, NZL, 99; Brad Webb, NZL, 22; Paul Westlake, AUS, 20.