The most notable one, perhaps only because they’re billionaires, is Ernesto Bertarelli and Larry Ellison. Bertarelli has the cup with the Alinghi, the Swiss boat, while Ellison wants the cup with the BMW Oracle boat.

“It’s an intense rivalry and it’s a great friendship. Out on the racecourse no holds barred. Play by the rules, try to win and then go out for dinner at night”, said Jones.

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“I really like Larry. He’s a great competitor. He’s a fair competitor and we really enjoy going at each other”, said Bertavelli.

The irony is that Bertarelli is from Switzerland.

“Well, I was born in Rome and I’ve been living all of my life in Switzerland. I’m Swiss," said Bertarelli. "We have a lot of water in Switzerland and most of it doesn’t have any salt. It’s lakes, but there are a lot of good sailors in Switzerland.”

Forty year-old Bertarellli – a pharmaceutical heir and one of the richest men on the planet, has spent – along with principle sponsor UBS, vast sums on R&D to keep team Alinghi on top.

“We have to have the right mast, the correct sails," said Grant. "Then, we have to set that up and tune it correctly. Ninety-five percent of our time is spent developing and testing boats. Five percent of our time is spent racing.”

The top boats have teams of engineers; researchers and designers entrenched in their Valencia clubhouses, working around the clock to find the next best, and fastest thing.

“We have 55,000 pounds of lead underneath the boat, hanging in a big bowl," said Isler. "Basically the force of the wind. The 110 foot mast above it with a giant sail plant that carries two tennis courts worth of sail area.”

While some of the challengers have one boat and seventeen sailors, Alinghi fields two complete teams. Thirty-four sailors rotating on and off the boats. Ten more just to tend to the sails, and dozens dealing with marketing and PR.

BMW Oracle matches that.

“We look for a fraction of a percent. If we can make a gain of half, or a quarter percent in the drag of the hull, drag of the keel maybe it’s the stiffness of the mast or weight of the boat, any of these things translate into a faster boat”, said Ian Burns.

Design advancements are critical. But what wins races is a team’s ability to capture the wind, outmaneuver the other boar in one-on-one match play and best utilize brute physical strength.

“Historically, America’s Cup teams look to other sports, like rowers and professional football players, athletes that have upper body strength and good aerobic, anaerobic strength”, said Isler.

Team leaders comb the seas for elite skippers, trimmers, strategists, navigators, grinders and helmsmen. And the question, can the sport of billionaires become a mainstream sport?

“It’s part of the game, an interesting part of the game. There are limitations as to what you can do”, said Jones. “Breaking and entering is not allowed. Putting divers in the water is not allowed”.

Jones has a tough job monitoring people on the racecourse, too. New Zealand fans, fearing their beloved team would lose in 2003, threatened to kill Alinghi’s skipper, Brad Butterworth. He was forced to wear a bulletproof vest in the final regatta. Proving just how passionate sailing fans can be.

Getting the rest of the world to pay attention, minus the death threats, has put the sport in a bit of a quandary. Some believe it ought to remain a niche, elite sport. Others, principally the corporations backing the teams, would like more eyeballs on sailing.

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