Here is Oracle’s first test boat, which they sold to SoftBank Team Japan. The team has set up their base right next door to Oracle in Bermuda.
Here is an onboard video from Team Japan. To use the 3D controls, watch it using the Chrome or Firefox browser. Pay attention to the grinders – you will see all four working hard when wing trimmer Chris Draper eases and trims the wing. Turn up the sound – at about 11 seconds in, you will hear the whine of the electric pump for the hydraulics. You’ll hear it again at 55 seconds into the video. At 1:09 you can hear Dean Barker count down for a gybe and you’ll see the port daggerboard going down and hear the electric pump running. Then you’ll see the starboard daggerboard rise, again with the pump running. At 1:30 you’ll see all four grinders working while Draper constantly adjusts wing trim. This almost certainly means they were sailing the boat with the grinding pedestals mechanically coupled to the wing winch, and were only using electrical power for the hydraulic pumps.
Remember that in these test boats there is no restriction on using electric power or other stored energy. But when they start racing in their AC Class yacht in 2017, all power must be manually generated by the grinders.