Larry Ellison, one of the richest men in the world, could find his America’s Cup Challenge on the rocks unless he can halt an ill-timed legal action. A German court has served asset-confiscation papers on his illustrious sponsors - BMW, Allianz and Roland Berger Strategy Consultants. The action could go as far as having his 110 million pounds Oracle Racing yacht stranded on the dock unless there is a settlement.

It seems that the famously irascible Ellison has upset Kolya Spori, a sponsorship agent, who claimed to have arranged the BMW backing of the America’s Cup venture to the tune of 40mill but was never paid.

Ellison is worth about 9 billion pounds, thanks to the success of his Oracle software business based in California’s Silicon Valley. He will need to sort out the legal stormy weather soon, as the preparations for the prestigious and most expensive yacht race accelerates, or he might find he and his dreams of winning the Cup will be left high and dry.