The Boat is Huge — Too Tall to Fit Under any Bay Area Bridge

USA 17, the massive yacht that Larry Ellison and his team used to win the America's Cup last year, has arrived in San Francisco. Oracle Racing intends it to be a landmark for sailing enthusiasts, which may or may not happen. But it is already an unlikely landmark of business savvy.

The boat is huge — too tall to fit under any Bay Area bridge — and it's fantastically delicate.

The moderate 5- to 10-mph wind that was blowing at its new home at Pier 80 on Monday was deemed too big a threat to allow the vessel to be set up after unloading from the freighter that brought it from Spain.

In fact, USA 17 has sailed only twice in earnest — during the two races it took for BMW Oracle Racing to win the America's Cup from the Swiss team Alinghi a year ago. 

Indeed, in the sailing equivalent of Howard Hughes' Spruce Goose, it may never sail again:Gathering from around the world the few people trained to sail it would be a considerable undertaking.And then there are the logistics. According to Latitude 38, an authoritative Bay Area sailing magazine, the three-hulled vessel with a 223-foot-tall solid vertical wing for a sail required 20 hours of maintenance for every hour it actually sailed.

It's made of some of the world's most advanced -- and expensive -- materials to ensure strength with light weight. It reportedly took 130,000 man-hours and cost a rumored $400 million, mostly of Ellison's money, to build.

And yet, in spite of the expense and all the rest, it's hard to argue USA 17 was a bad investment.Ellison used the boat to win a sailboat race — and parlayed that into control or outright ownership of some of the most desirable waterfront property in San Francisco, in a deal that benefits both him and the city. All he has to do to seal the deal is put on the next America's Cup regatta in San Francisco.

That's not a slam-dunk even now — the looming roadblock is an approval process under the California Environmental Quality Act.

But assuming he gets CEQA approval, Ellison, CEO of Oracle Corp. (NASDAQ: ORCL), will become lord of San Francisco's waterfront, a title he can add to King of the Oceans, or whatever one calls the holder of the America's Cup, and overall Master of the Universe.

So when this massive machine is finally unloaded and assembled, I will be among those anxious to see it, both as a sailing fan and as someone who appreciates an emblem of remarkable business acumen.

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