Oracle Team USA – Page 25

December 22, 2014 By Jack Griffin

America’s Cup Stars on 100 Footers in 2014 Sydney Hobart Race

img5a-compressed — WILD OATS XI IN THE 2013 RACE. CANTING KEEL VISIBLE UNDER WATER. IMAGE: CARLO BORLENGHI

America’s Cup stars will be will be fighting for line honors in the 2014 Sydney Hobart on Boxing Day, December 26, 2014 on board the 100 footers.

Wild Oats XI

Seven times line honors winner Wild Oats XI is once again the favorite. Wild Oats XI is owned by Bob Oatley, of former America’s Cup Challenger of Record, Hamilton Island Yacht Club. On board will be Iain Murray, recently named Regatta Director for the 2017 America’s Cup and formerly head of Team Australia. Oracle Team USA designer and former Alinghi navigator Juan Vila will plot the course as navigator on board Wild Oats XI. Wild Oats XI has been continuously modified since her first season in 2005 when she took the “treble” – line honors, course record and overall winner on corrected time. Wild Oats XI has so many appendages she is called the “Swiss Army Knife” – see the photo of her “Dynamic Stability System” horizontal foil that provides lift and extra righting moment.

img4b-compressed — DYNAMIC STABILTY SYSTEM FOIL ADDS RIGHTING MOMENT WHEN EXTENDED ON THE LEEWARD SIDE. IMAGE: INFINITI YACHTS

Commanche

Netscape founder Jim Clark and his australian wife Kristy Hinze Clark built Commanche for speed – to take line honors every time they race and to set course records when the weather is nasty enough. This will be Commanche’s first big race and she is filled with America’s Cup talent: LiveLine developer Stan Honey will navigate. Mainsail trim magician Warwick Fleury, another TNZ, Alinghi and OTUSA veteran will be joined by Artemis Racing mainsail wizard Sean Clarkson. Another Artemis alumnus, Julian Cressant is also on board. OTUSA skipper Jimmy Spithill has postponed elbow surgery to join the Commanche crew. Volvo Ocean Race veteran and America’s Cup helmsman turned TV commentator Ken Read is skipper and overall manager of Commanche.

img3a-compressed — COMMANCHE FULLY POWERED UP WITH ONE REEF IN THE MAIN. PHOTO: ONNE VAN DER WAL

Perpetual Loyal

Perhaps the sentimental favorite (if there is any sentimentality in grand prix offshore racing) is Anthony Bell’s 2011 line honors winner, “Perpetual Loyal,” with OTUSA’s strategist and sailing team manager Tom Slingsby as primary helmsman. Tom is forgoing his (hefty) fee, donating it to Bell’s Loyal Foundation which supplies hospital equipment for new-borns and infants. A 100 foot offshore racer is a long way from the Laser in which Slingsby won Olympic gold and five world championships. Launched as “Speedboat” in 2008, “Perpetual Loyal” is famous for dramatically losing her keel in the 2011 Fastnet, when she was called “Rambler.”

img2-compressed — PERPETUAL LOYAL PHOTO: CROSBIE LORIMER

Rio 100

Owner Manouch Moshayedi lives in southern California and has his eyes set on the the “Barn Door Trophy” that goes to the Transpac line honors winner, so to qualify for the Barn Door, Rio 100 has none of the tricks of the the other 100 footers – no canting keel, no water ballast, no powered winches. She does have two times America’s Cup winning navigator Peter Isler on board, though. Unfortunately, the weather forecast looks unlikely to provide the light conditions that would suit Rio 100.

November 21, 2014 By Jack Griffin

Airbus in America’s Cup with Oracle

Rumors of an Airbus sponsorship for Team France for the 35th America’s Cup flew away as Oracle Team USA announced that the US-flagged team has partnered with the French headquartered aerospace company. Watch the announcement video and get the details here

Team France Reacts to Airbus Partnering with Oracle Team USA

In July, French sailor and “Voiles et Voiliers” blogger Loïc LeBras reported that Franck Cammas’s America’s Cup challenger, Team France, was in advanced negotiations with with a major European aerospace company. Although I and many others assumed it was Airbus, apparently it was another company. Team France responded gracefully, issuing this statement:

“The partnership between Oracle Team USA and Airbus shows how French skills and know-how in composites and more generally in high technology are at the forefront. This only reinforces our belief in the ability of a French team to win at last the most important sailing event in the world.”

November 21, 2014 By Jack Griffin

Is Ben Ainslie’s Budget Bigger than Oracle’s?

That’s what Ainslie said in a CNBC interview.

Interviewed on CNBC in late October 2014, Ben Ainslie indicated that his America’s Cup challenge has a bigger budget than Oracle Team USA’s. Once again confirming that his budget is £80 million – approximately $128 million – he also said about OTUSA, “I know that their budget next time around is under $100 million.” If the video does not play in your email system, you can see it here.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sfvfPCeLPGA&feature=youtube_gdata_player

November 5, 2014 By Jack Griffin

Oracle’s Development Boat

AC Protocol allows “anything goes” boats based on AC45 hull shape

Note how the wing step is aft of the main crossbeam.

Start with AC45 hull shapes and add whatever you want

As long as the lower part of the hulls have the same shape as AC45 hulls, the designers can build whatever they want on top. In the Oracle renderings, we can see that they have designed flared hulls to accommodate cockpits, a grinding pedestal and wheel steering. They have added hydraulics for daggerboard control, an end plate under the wing, and what looks like a pod under the platform.

Why does this design show the wing stepped aft of the main crossbeam?

During AC34 Oracle made the slot in their wing bigger by changing the tab adjustment. This moved the center of effort aft, reducing the lee helm that had plagued them. The AC62 Class Rule does not permit a tab on the wing’s main element. Moving the mast position fore and aft will allow them to change the center of effort.

America’s Cup OTUSA design meeting. Renderings AC62. From Airbus video

This development boat is permitted by loophole in the rules for the 2017 America’s Cup. Read more about it here.

October 27, 2014 By Jack Griffin

Is this the Biggest Loophole in the 2017 America’s Cup Rules?

2017 America's Cup - AC45x rendering Oracle Team USA — 2017 America’s Cup – AC45x rendering Oracle Team USA

OTUSA DESIGNERS REVIEW DRAWINGS FOR A DEVELOPMENT BOAT BASED ON AC45 HULL SHAPES.Your editor has already pointed out here that the Protocol for the 35th America’s Cup allows unlimited development (read “spending”) on up to three 45 foot catamarans. Now Oracle Team USA has given us a peek at a design for one of these exotic “development AC45” catamarans.

Limits on sailing AC62’s and AC62 “surrogates”

Teams are not allowed to launch their AC62 catamaran until approximately September 2016 – 150 days before the round robin racing begins in the “America’s Cup Qualifiers.” Nor are they allowed to sail “surrogate yachts” – multihull yachts longer than 33 feet overall – for training, test or development of AC62 components. (They are allowed to race surrogates, e.g. Extreme 40, or use surrogates purely for promotional sailing.)

2017 America's Cup - Oracle Team USA AC45x test boat in construction, Nov'14 — 2017 America’s Cup – Oracle Team USA AC45x test boat in construction, Nov’14

No limits on up to three “development AC45” catamarans

Protocol Article 1.1 (bbb) (ii) makes an exception to the definition of “Surrogate Yacht.” As long as the lower part of the hulls have the same shape as AC45 hulls, the designers can build whatever they want on top. In the OTUSA renderings, we can see that they have designed flared hulls to accommodate cockpits, a grinding pedestal and wheel steering. They have added hydraulics for daggerboard control, an end plate under the wing, and what looks like a pod under the platform. What else have they added that we can’t see? Probably wing controls. In addition, rule would allow them to add motors to simulate additional grinding pedestals to provide the same amount of hydraulic pressure they will have available on their AC62 so they can test all their control systems.

No limits on wing sections and daggerboards

Protocol Article 35.7 limits teams to four “AC45” yachts, one of which will need to be class compliant for America’s Cup World Series racing. But there is no limit placed on the number of wings, daggerboards or any other component. Wing geometry is tightly restricted by the AC62 Class Rule, but building multiple wings would allow testing of different control systems. Teams can test a maximum of 12 daggerboard sections for their AC62, but any number of shapes on their “development AC45.”

We should be seeing plenty of interesting design ideas in 2015 and 2016!

Photos and more info about AC45 test boats and surrogates here.

Add your comments and questions, and please share this article with your friends!