AC33 - Trimaran wins the Americas’ Cup!

I’m sure most people were never expecting a trimaran would win (or even race in) an Americas’ Cup match, but yesterday the BMW Oracle Racing trimaran USA won the Americas’ Cup, defeating the catamaran Alinghi V by winning the first 2 races in a 3-race series.

USA crossed the start line 24 seconds ahead of Alinghi V and headed to the port side of the course, while Alinghi V headed to the starboard side. USA tacked to cover and took the initial lead. Alinghi was able to tack back to port ahead of USA after some good starboard pressure, but with a good covering tack USA got  out in front and stayed there.

The view from the rear… Alinghi V trailing USA on the final leg. Picture © Gilles Martin-Raget / BMW Oracle Racing, used with permission.

The victorious USA crew after crossing the finish line. Picture © Gilles Martin-Raget / BMW Oracle Racing, used with permission.

AC33 - USA Trimaran takes the first race

USA, BMW-Oracle Racing's giant 90-foot trimaran has taken the first race in the 33rd Americas Cup by a margin of more than 15 minutes. After a pre-start tussle where Alinghi V picked up a penalty turn for not allowing enough room for USA while on port tack, the trimaran crossed the line more than a minute behind. She made up this deficit and was leading by more than 3 minutes at the weather mark of this upwind-downwind race.

BMW-Oracle Racing's trimaran USA catches up with Alinghi V on the windward leg. Picture © Gilles Martin-Raget / BMW Oracle Racing, used with permission.

She held onto this lead in the downwind run, reaching speeds of up to 25 knots in the gentle breeze. The wing-sail clearly came into its own during this race, allowing James Spithill to sail USA consistently higher and keep the hull and windward float in the air. This allowed him to keep the apparent wind well forward as he played the puffs all through the race, steering the mega-trimaran like a dinghy sailor.

James Spithill helms BMW-Oracle Racing's trimaran USA on the downwind leg. Picture © Gilles Martin-Raget / BMW Oracle Racing, used with permission.

Check out the BMW Oracle Racing blog for more details.

BMW Oracle Racing wing takes flight

Yesterday the BMW Oracle Racing team took their BOR90 trimaran for a sail off San Diego in its "version 4.0" configuration - with the world's largest wing replacing the soft sails of earlier trials.

The "2-element" wing is raised from the port side with a massive gin-pole. The aft "element" of the wing is divided into 6 sections which appear to be controlled independently, allowing its "twist" to be tuned.

Getting the BOR 90 away from the dock after the wing was attached for the first time was a complicated process. The wing needed to be attached to the boat in near calm conditions, before helmsman James Spithill carefully maneuvered away from the dock with the wing down, in a horizontal position, assisted by numerous RIBs. Apparently, while the wing is attached the boat swing at a mooring - since it won't be possible to de-power the rig at the dock.

All photos © Gilles Martin-Raget / BMW Oracle Racing. Used with permission.

BMW Oracle Racing reveal the wing

The BMW Oracle Racing team have revealed their "secret weapon", a 57m (190ft) wing for their BOR90 trimaran. There had been a good deal of speculation that BOR were building a wing for the boat when two large and long items arrived by truck from their boat builder in Anacortes, Washington several weeks ago.

BOR will test the performance and handling of the wing in comparison to the soft sail which the boat has been using on sea trials for the past several months.

Having the wing ready at this point was fortuitous timing for BOR, as they broke the mast for their soft sail last week.

A solid wing like this is more efficient than a soft sail in aerodynamic terms, and it is easier to control than a soft sail. This is the largest wing-sail ever constructed for a sailing boat. Its height is larger than the semi-span of a 747 (57m vs 31m).

Photographs © Gilles Martin-Raget / BMW Oracle Racing, used with permission.

BOR90 v3.0 sailing again

After a second round of modifications taking nearly 5 weeks, BMW Oracle Racing have taken their 90-foot trimaran sailing again off the California coast. The boat returned to the water on Sunday (October 25th) and spent 4 days undergoing dock-side tests of its new systems. The BOR90 went out for its first sailing trials yesterday (Thursday October 29th).

The single largest change made was to remove the four "coffee grinders" powering the winches and replace them with an engine and hydraulics. The boat now sails with a smaller crew, the engine providing the horsepower previously supplied by manual "grinders". The deck layout for the winches has been extensively modified now that there is more room to fit everything.

There were several other changes visible from yesterday's sailing photos. The rudder and dagger-board have been removed from the main hull and longer J-shaped foils (the previous foils were C-shaped) have been fitted to the floats (amas). The bow-sprit appears to have been lengthened and its braces have new struts below and above. Finally, the trampolines no longer extend all the way to the floats, only reaching about one-third of the distance out from the main hull.

Sailing again - sans grinders and main hull foils. Photo © Gilles Martin-Rage, used with permission.

The longer bow-sprit and deeper foils are clear in this shot. Photo © Gilles Martin-Rage, used with permission.

There is now more room on-deck with the removal of the grinders. Photo © Gilles Martin-Rage, used with permission.

BMW Oracle Racing launch version 2 of their BOR 90

BOR 90 sailing again with new bows. Photo © Gilles Martin-Raget, used with permission.

The America's Cup Deed of Gift match continues to feature plenty of legal action in the courts. But more interestingly, both teams now have boats on the water - so now we can see what the designers are thinking. Alinghi have launched an enormous catamaran (fitting the 90 foot length by 90 foot beam "box rule") in Switzerland and BMW Oracle Racing have re-launched their BOR 90 trimaran in the US with wave-piercing bows on the floats, giving a radical new look to the boat. BMW Oracle Racing may still launch a new boat (or modify their current boat) once the location of the Deed of Gift match races is announced, but for now we can enjoy these shots of their behemoth undergoing a fresh round of sea trials.

New wave-piercing bows on BOR 90. Photo © Gilles Martin-Raget, used with permission.

Wave-piercing bows like these have become popular on 16-foot A-Class catamarans, where they are said to reduce pitching in choppy conditions. Does this mean the BMW Oracle Racing team are already making some assumptions about the location of the Deed of Gift races (somewhere choppy), or are they trying several options to gather data for their final boat?

For comparison, the original bows on BOR 90. Photo © Gilles Martin-Raget, used with permission.