Since late January, SoftBank Team Japan has been sailing the AC45X test boat they bought from Oracle. The are also buying Oracle’s design for their America’s Cup Class race boat. Their head of design, Nick Holroyd, formerly headed the design team at Emirates Team New Zealand.

Holoyd has pointed out that daggerboard design will be the highest priority.

The protocol allows teams to fit only four boards (two sets) into their AC Class race yacht. Design considerations include wind range, sea state and stability. When the race boat is launched, the first set of boards will be one of your two racing sets. There is little time for deciding on a final design for the second set of boards – It takes about three months to build a set of daggerboards.

Add to this the fact that contractors have specific build windows in which to construct these underwater carbon fiber wings and it becomes clear that every practice session on the water is precious.

SoftBank Team Japan testing with the AC45X test boat they bought from Oracle

Inspecting the damage to Team Japan’s AC45X test boat. Dean Barker reported that the damage was due to a “board system issue.” The damage is located near some important components of the hydraulics. Did this happen because of crew error? Or did it happen because of a design or build error?

Two Japanese crew members selected

After an intense selection process in Japan in December, Yugo Yoshida and Yuki Kasatani have joined SoftBank Team Japan. They were selected following a three-day tryout in Zushi, Japan where 22 Japanese athletes were put through rigorous fitness and sailing tests.

Yugo Yoshida is an Olympic 470 sailor.                          Yuki Kasatani is an oarsman.