Understand not many would be aware of the cup going on, or its history, however the story behind the final race tomorrow and the series itself is one for the history books - something to read up on if you love sport.
Only £100k matched on betfair, however amazing history of events - and subsequent fight back by Oracle.
The short of it:
After Team New Zealand won the Louis Vuitton cup (vs Sweden/Italy), they were still underdogs when up against the current cup holders, Oracle. With the financial backing of Larry Ellison, Oracle had acquired some key personnel + technology and were expected to retain the cup.
Before the final began (with the winner being the first to win 9 races), Oracle was slapped with a two-point penalty for illegally modifying their catamaran.
When racing did get underway, Team New Zealand were immediately seen as the faster boat, with an obvious advantage upwind.
After the first 9 races, Team New Zealand were ahead 8 - 1, and only needed the one more race to win the cup.
On betfair, £27.9k was matched under 1.10.
In the 9th race, which was lost very very badly by Oracle, they choose not to race that afternoon and went back to the drawing board. Apparently, they got rid of their tactician and acquired the services of Sir Ben Ainsley, the pommy yachtsman who was with team New Zealand last challenge.
This morning, Oracle has just won their 10th race, so it is 8 all on the scoreboard taking into account the -2 pt penalty.
Should be a cracking final race tomorrow, and if you have never seen a yacht race on TV (if they have it in your country) the coverage is pretty good!
Highly recommended...
Betfair Market
http://www.betfair.com/exchange/yachtin ... .110898477
Race history
http://www.americascup.com/en/results-standings
On a personal note, I am a kiwi so hoping Team New Zealand gets across the line
Not confident though to be honest - if you are a punter and like the short odds then Oracle is currently 1.3
