The Four Aces: Oracle's Chris Dickson

Alinghi line up against Oracle BMW Racing and Prada race OneWorld in the much-awaited semifinals of the Louis Vuitton challenger series from Monday.

While both clashes are expected to go down to the wire, we asked helmsmen Magnus Holmberg (Victory Challenge), Philippe Presti (Le Defi Areva) and GBR Challenge (Andy Green) their opinions on the top four skippers - Alinghi's Russell Coutts, Oracle's Chris Dickson, Prada's Francesco de Angelis and OneWorld's Peter Gilmour.

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After Dickson was sidelined from Oracle early this year because of "friction" within the team, many yachting experts wondered just how the San Francisco team would respond when team boss Larry Ellison brought him back as skipper in the second round of the challenger series.

Although Dickson had spent little time racing Oracle's boats, once the veteran New Zealand sailor was back, his team won 11 races on the trot.

While it was obvious Oracle's boat, USA76, had been modified to improve its speed in a range of conditions, the Dickson factor was clearly evident.

"He has stepped on the boat and helped give them that extra edge," Green said.

"There is little separating these boats and he has added something to Oracle." Presti added: "I think Chris is brilliant. He has been involved in the cup for years. He is at home and he knows the Hauraki Gulf very well.

"When he came back into the team he took the helm for a while and then said someone else is better than me and gave the job back to Peter Holmberg."

With Holmberg at the helm, surrounded by an afterguard comprising Dickson, John Cutler, Tommaso Chieffi and Ian Burns, Oracle tend to show no mercy from the first gun.

Magnus Holmberg said: "They are quite aggressive, which is Peter Holmberg's [no relation] normal matchracing style. He is probably the most aggressive starting helmsman on the circuit.

"Chris Dickson is definitely a tough sailor and he has been there before. He has added qualities to what was already a very, very strong afterguard."

Oracle have used USA76 in all their matches to date - little is known about their first yacht USA71.

"Oracle is a big machine, Larry Ellison has brought the best money can buy," Presti said.

"They will be tough to beat."

JUST THE FACTS

Name: Chris Dickson.

Position: Skipper/tactician.

Date of birth: November 3, 1961.

Lives: Auckland.

Status: Married with two children.

Sailing achievements:

1995 Tag Heuer.

1992 Nippon Challenge.

1987 New Zealand challenge KZ7.

Various - three-time world matchracing champion, triple world maxi yacht champion.

Oracle team profile

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