Editorial: Winds of change in sailing could blow good luck to Northland

The sign currently says "Marsden City" but given the events of this week ... (see photo below)

I wonder if Larry Ellison would like to buy Marsden City?

Back in April 2012, the American billionaire's Oracle Racing Team was on Northport's radar.

Northport had successfully promoted Marsden Pt ahead of ports in South Africa and Australia as a training base for Oracle.

The plan was for Oracle, which had won the 33rd America's Cup regatta in 2010 from holders Alinghi, to being preparing for its next defence at Northport, the deep-water port at Marsden Pt.

It would have attracted 200 Oracle team members, family and support crews and pumped several million dollars into the local economy.

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.... would Oracle City look better?

But a lot can happen in a short space of time in America's Cup yachting, and in July that year Oracle announced they had opted to extend their training in San Francisco.

At the time, Team Oracle general manager Grant Simmer said the management at Northport and community at Marsden Pt had been extremely helpful and welcoming.

"The merits of Marsden Pt as a sailing venue have not changed; it is only our priorities that have changed.''

Simmer's comments added gravitas to the situation, and confirmed Northport had advanced the idea well beyond the conceptual stage.

Let's hope someone has thumbed through their contacts in the past few days and stopped at "Oracle".

Because surely Oracle will feature as a challenger in the next America's Cup defence, after Team NZ's fantastic efforts in Bermuda, aided and abetted by two Northland sailors.

Jimmy Spithill and Larry Ellison, in happier times, after successfully defending the America's Cup in 2013.

It would make sense to revisit New Zealand groundwork already laid.

And the timing is excellent - Oracle is an IT company (a description that's a tad simple, I know) and just down the road at Mangawhai Heads we have the $500 million Hawaiki submarine internet cable.

But even closer, if Ellison wants, is a whole city, albeit with a few leaks here and there, that he could buy.

Suddenly, Larrysville or Oracle City, instead of Marsden City, is starting to sound very attractive.