With a delay and perhaps deliberately late notification of the media, the announced premiere of Oracle's AC72 took place yesterday on the southern bay of San Francisco, on the shallow part of the water where fox and hen usually wish each other good night in the figurative sense.
A large grandstand was not particularly desirable for the maiden voyage, so they tried to stay away from the traffic and hustle and bustle. The black speedster, which was equipped with a small jib, was immediately put on the gas. At least enough to sail on one hull. So it seems that people have confidence in the skills of the boat builders and the computing power of the engineers.
The fine hulls - more reminiscent of the wavepiercer amas of the trimaran with which BMW Oracle Racing so clearly won the Cup against Alinghi in Valencia in February 2010 -, the cover in the aft area and also the streamlined pulpit, which is positioned in the centre under the trampoline, were all on show. But after two hours, it was time to call it a day due to a defect on the starboard centreboard, which the press office described afterwards casually and deliberately broadly with the word "failure". There was no statement from those responsible for the team, which is actually surprising for the otherwise so eloquent officials and sailors. Only this much was revealed: "The boat and crew returned to the base at Pier 80 unharmed. The team will now assess the situation in order to resume testing as soon as possible."
To the Announcement
