BMW ORACLE Racing Enters Yacht-Construction Phase. Seattle Region is Home To "Made in USA" America's Cup Yacht.

Anacortes, WA. BMW ORACLE Racing, the only US Challenger for the America's Cup,
has a boat-building team in place and is entering final preparation for the
construction of its first race boat in the Seattle, WA region of the United
States, the team announced today. The first of the team's two new race boats
for the 32nd America's Cup in 2007 will be built at a purpose-built site in
Anacortes, WA. The small town nestled in the San Juan Islands is a hub of
maritime industry. The region provides a blend of maritime and aerospace
resources. "Our boat-building team has been on site in Anacortes customizing
the construction site and getting ready for building our boats for several
months now," said Chris Dickson, CEO, BMW ORACLE Racing. "We are now confident
we have the best facility and the best team and are now ready to start
construction."

As an American entry representing San Francisco's Golden Gate Yacht Club, the
team is bound by the rules to build the hull of their two new race yachts in
the United States. The boats will ultimately race in Valencia, Spain, site of
the 32nd America's Cup in 2007.

Seattle also serves as home of the BMW ORACLE Racing structural engineering
team. Headed by local sailor and designer Paul Bieker, the structures team
chose Seattle as a base to be near the construction site. The Seattle
structures team includes three BMW engineers: Thomas Hahn, Christoph Erbelding
and Ingo Raasch.

As an equal team partner, the international automotive group BMW is importantly
involved in the development and construction of the new high-tech yachts. In
Valencia and Seattle, BMW engineers led by Prof. Dr. Raymond Freymann, Director
BMW Group Research and Technology, are integrated in the design team in order
to bring in BMW technological competence into the sports of sailing. Prof.
Freymann: "The close collaboration between our employees on the one side and
the exchange of informations between Seattle and Spain on the other is an
efficiently working system. I'm therefore confident that we all as a team will
make the hull of the yacht lighter and stiffer at the same time. We'll increase
the speed of the yacht. The door to success in 2007 is open."

BMW ORACLE Racing's Mark Turner, Tim Smyth and Mark Somerville are managing the
boat construction. The three were involved with the construction of USA 71 and
USA 76, the team's 2003-generation race boats.

The moulds and other tooling for the 80-foot America's Cup Class yacht are
being manufactured at Janicki Industries in nearby Sedro-Woolley. "With a
custom-made boat, it is essential to have quality control every step of the
way," Turner said of the team's choice of Janicki. "Janicki's work in the
aerospace industry provides us with the precision we are seeking in our
tooling," Turner said.

"Last campaign, we built the tooling at Janicki and the hulls in California.
This time we consolidated our operations by building the hulls in nearby
Anacortes," Turner said. "So far, we are finding this to be a more efficient
approach."

The construction site for the carbon fibre composite race boats is located in
Anacortes at a 20,000-square-foot purpose-built facility. Due to the
competitive nature of the America's Cup, the boat-building remains a highly
secure process. The non-descript facility in Anacortes has been customized to
offer aerospace level technologies and quality levels. And like the automotive
or aerospace industries, innovations are protected and the construction kept
under wraps until the boat sails in Valencia. Any competitive advantage gained
in design and construction methods will remain a closely guarded secret of the
team.

The construction follows an intensive research and development program to
develop what the team hopes is a fast design. "Quality construction is the key
to bringing our design concepts to life," BMW ORACLE Racing Design Coordinator
Ian Burns said. "Through a precise custom boat-building process, we can ensure
the right materials and methods are applied to the build. With high-tech
composite materials, precision of construction is critical to ensure that
engineering specifications are met," Burns said.

"The technology involved in composite boat-building is becoming a science in
itself. The build team has spent the last few months very well, taking this
science to the next level by combining the talent of some of the best people in
the America's Cup game with the aerospace technology available in the Seattle
area. The design team has been highly impressed by what we've seen in
Anacortes."

The construction of an America's Cup Class yacht is a highly-specialized trade.
The high-tech tooling is developed for precision accuracy to ensure faithful
reproduction of the design team's shapes. The carbon fibres are layered onto
the mould and then baked in a large oven ensuring the lightest and strongest
possible structure.

BMW ORACLE Racing has an experienced in-house team of about 15 boat-builders
working on the project. Some 30,000 man hours will go into the construction of
the race yacht. The first of two new race boats is expected to sail in Valencia
in spring 2006.

You will find photo and video material on BMW ORACLE Racing at
www.bmor-photo.com and www.bmor-video.com.

For further information please contact:

BMW Group
Nicole Stempinsky
Public Relations, Sports Communication
Tel.: +49 89 382 51584
Fax: +49 89 382 28017
E-Mail: nicole.stempinsky@bmw.de

Michael Kirsch
Head of Public Relations
Tel.: +49 89 382 25111
Fax: +49 89 382 28017
E-Mail: michael.kirsch@bmw.de