Chris Dickson and crew claim prize for first America's Cup racing in Germany 7/8/06

BMW Oracle Racing capped three days of brilliant racing by claiming the prize for the German Sailing Grand Prix after posting four additional wins yesterday. On another sparkling day in Kiel, thousands of sailing fans and hundreds of boaters turned out again for the final day of the first-ever America’s Cup Class regatta in Germany.

America’s Cup racing is the Formula 1 of the sea and that was evident in yesterday’s racing with equipment breakages and one injured crewman from Team Shosholoza.

In a fresh breeze of 15 knots from the north-east, the day opened with a fleet race won by BMW Oracle Racing. Team Shosholoza had some problems on board during the fleet race which resulted in a crewman going overboard. The crew member was quickly retrieved by chase boat and taken to a local hospital for treatment. Team Shosholoza continued racing.

BMW Oracle Racing went into the final day of racing on top of the leaderboard, but the final match race with United Internet Team Germany weighed double at 12 points, creating a showdown for the regatta prize. In the match of the day with the Germans, Team Germany suffered equipment problems early in the race and were forced to withdraw, leaving BMW Oracle Racing to complete the course alone and collect the points for victory. The damaged forestay forced the Germans to retire from the regatta so the final two races of the day were sailed between BMW Oracle Racing and Team Shosholoza.

Dickson BMW Oracle Racing CEO and skipper commented: “BMW Oracle Racing may have won on the water but the real winners are the thousands of spectators both on and off the water who provided the enthusiastic support for all the teams and America’s Cup racing in general. Thanks to both United Internet Team Germany and Team Shosholoza for some great competition here in Kiel. We are sorry for the problems they both had today with equipment breakages and an injury, but overall this has been a fantastic event and we can all be proud to have been part of it.”

BMW Oracle Racing won 10 out of their 12 races to win the German Sailing Grand Prix with an overall score of 65 points. United Internet Team German finished second with 28 points and Team Shosholoza placed third with 25 points.