Suzanne McFadden: ETNZ coach and five-time Cup winner Murray Jones says "Oracle won't catch

HAMILTON, BER – A wise and accomplished head in the Oracle sailing team in 2013, [Murray "Cap" Jones (NZL)] helped turn around the fortunes of Oracle as they floundered in the wake of Team NZ’s 72-foot cat on San Francisco Bay. There was wild speculation at the time of Oracle’s haunting eight-win comeback that their advantage came from a mysterious foiling system dubbed Herbie, magically pulled from CEO Larry Ellison’s gold-lined pockets. But four years on, Jones reveals “80 percent of the difference” in Oracle’s performance came from the crew suddenly changing the way they tacked, sailed and steered their boat. They finally got the knack of foiling upwind, and refined their technique in a tack. Now, “The Captain” is coaching Team NZ’s sailing crew, who he reckons will only get better from now until the Cup is claimed – making it even tougher for Oracle to bridge the gap. –Suzanne McFadden, our longtime Kiwi friend and veteran Cup scribe, writing another of her insightful pieces for newsroom.co.nz. And as you will know from our previous posts, your Ed. expects "Cap" is spot on – and it was a pleasure getting to know him better, and being on the same team for a change, during the last Cup. Full story

Five-time Cup winner Murray Jones (NZL), aka The Captain. Murray was one of RC's "tight five" when they won the Cup in 1995 and 2000, and left with Russell & Co to go to Alinghi, where they won the Cup in 2003 and 2007. In 2013 he joined us with OTUSA, and became a key and highly-experienced member of the brain trust that helped turn around our 8-1 deficit, giving Murray his fifth Cup win.