The America's Cup has been run and won, and will return to America where it has resided for the vast majority of its century and a half history. Larry Ellison's Team BMW Oracle trimaran trounced the Swiss Alinghi team's Catamaran as two of the most technologically advanced boats on water fought out a one-sided event.
The America's cup is the oldest trophy in international sport, but it is not for the common man. Traditionally, the America'sd Cup is the province of the captains of industry, the world's wealthiest and most influential men, and Larry Ellison's recapturing of the trophy for America only goes to reinforce the notion.
Three years of bitter and obscenely wasteful legal battles, ten years of dedication from the Ellison camp, and hundreds of millions of dollars were invested in the contest, which ironically culminated in just a few hours of racing.
The second race saw Alinghi actually pass and put a distance on BMW Oracle during the first leg, but order was restored by the first mark which Team BMW Oracle led by 28 seconds, and from that point the result was never in doubt.
At the finish, the margin was more than five minutes, but anyone who witnessed the superb coverage available free on the internet will know that the margin was infinitely greater than that.