MICHELLE HAN, CNN ANCHOR: Setting course for New Zealand 2003, the world's top sailors are already preparing for the ultimate sea race, the America's Cup. As Eric Horng explains, backing from a big name corporation never hurts.</s>ERIC HORNG, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In the waters off Ventura, California, two of the world's most sophisticated riding boats glide through the waves, on board, some of the best sailors on board, training for the super bowl of the seas, the 2003 America's Cup.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You live it for two years. The race is from the first day, not when you see on TV; we are already racing right now.</s>HORNG: To win the oldest trophy in international sports requires more than just tenacity and talent, it also takes money, tens and millions of dollars, much of it from this team coming from Oracle software billionaire Larry Ellison. Like with any professional sport, the training is rigorous, six days a week, 10 to 12 hours a day. (on camera): In addition to their work, team members spend hours videotaping their training sessions.</s>PETER HOLMBERG, ORACLE RACING: A lot of technology in this game, and we have designers that are trying to design the fastest boat possible. Chasing this means chastising summer from hemisphere to hemisphere. One hundred Oracle team members, their families and extended support staff, even three chefs will spend half of the year in California before returning to go New Zealand, at the site of the competition, in the home venue of the defending champions.</s>HORNG: Some of the members of that winning New Zealand team now sail for Oracle.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Credit to New Zealanders, they have won the last two America's Cups, and so I think any smart planner would look at that and say, hey, let's learn from the experience and what they've done.</s>HORNG: Setting the course to capture yachting's most coveted prize. Eric Horng, CNN, Ventura, California.
World's Top Sailors Already Preparing for Ultimate Sea Race, the America's Cup