Launch AC72 Oracle Team USA
The video images of the launch do not allow us to draw any precise conclusions about the technology, but they do show that the designers from Oracle Team USA want to try out a few new ideas on the first AC72. Strikingly, unlike the New Zealanders' cat, USA 17 (Ellison is superstitious, and 17 is his lucky number) has a fixed curved cover between the sterns of the two hulls, presumably to improve the aerodynamics.
A fixed tunnel runs amidships and there is a streamlined pulpit under the trampoline. The rudders have small hydrofoils, the currently installed centreboards, which were visible when the boat was in the water, have an L-shape like those of the New Zealanders. The hull volume of Oracle's first cat also appears to be a little lower than that of the Kiwis, who have now completed their fourth day of training and are said to have clocked up speeds just south of 40 knots. Whether this is true or not is impossible to judge, but the video shows rapid progress in flat water.
The timetable for the other teams: Artemis Racing have already brought their AC72 to San Francisco, but are still working on the wing, which they damaged during testing on a converted ORMA60 rimaran in Valencia. Luna Rossa is still building its first and perhaps only AC72 in New Zealand and is due to take to the water at the end of September or beginning of October. And Team Korea? Rumours are growing that the announcement of the Asians' participation was premature because the financing is not (yet) in place.
Team New Zealand Training
To Oracle Team USA Website
