How did Oracle do it?

The question is simple but the answer is anything but clear: How did Oracle Team USA go from dead in the water to flying high? Because at 8-1 down in the world’s most competitive sailing race, syndicate owner Larry Ellison’s team looked like it was on a one-way trip to Davy Jones’s locker.

Emirates Team New Zealand looked unbeatable – preparations for a victory parade in Auckland were even pencilled in but on the way to the coronation, the hydrofoils came off the Kiwi boat. Or, more accurately, the Americans found theirs.

Never mind that only one American was on the boat, the US team just got quicker and quicker, particularly on the important long upwind leg, while the Kiwis seemed to just play a nervous defence, unwilling to change as they searched for that one elusive win.

Quite how the Oracle team technically achieved their remarkable feat is still unknown. It may take months or even years before the world knows the truth.

Perhaps it will come down to some grizzled old salt from the shore team having one too many rums in some far-off yacht club before the beans are spilt.