America’s Cup Cats Winning Over Skeptics
www.oracleracing.com
Oracle Racing held a media week,
after which most everyone is lauding the selection of the catamarans. In winds blowing 20-23 knots, some media members were taken for a quick “blast on the Bay,” which left them exhilarated and anxious to see more competition between these twin-hulled rockets. “I’ve never had a ride like this.
Guilain Grenier/ORACLE Racing Water boils off the leeward bow as ORACLE Racing trains on San Francisco Bay. Guilain Grenier/ORACLE Racing
It was tremendous out there, it was so fast,” said Captain Cynthia Stowe of the U.S. Coast Guard, whose West Command includes the Bay Area. “We were right on the water, it was something else. We went 25 knots out there with two extra people on board. It must be a young man’s sport. They’re jumping around on the boats going as fast as they are, it’s pretty intense.” Oracle’s two crews, led by
helmsmen James Spithill and Russell Coutts, then engaged in exhibition racing run by America’s Cup Principal Race Officer John Craig. He set a course that featured a reaching start to a turning mark around which the crews unfurled the gennakers and turned downwind. After rounding the leeward mark
Russell Coutts and crew sailing on the edge on San Francisco Bay.
the two crews sailed up to a windward mark before another blasting run downwind and a final beat to the finish. The race lasted no more than 20 minutes.
During the prestart to the second
Go To the online version of 48° North and click on this photo to see the capsize video.
exhibition race, Oracle Racing Boat No. 5, helmed by Russell Coutts, buried both bows, went nearly vertical, then capsized. “The boats are spectacular, hard to sail. They’re gonna test the best sailors in the world. Luckily I had the crash helmet on,” said Coutts. “I would’ve preferred it didn’t happen, but it’s all learning,” Coutts said. “Frankly, I’ve got to see these sort of things to learn how hard to push it and what not to do. It’s lots of learning for me.”
With this much action from the AC
45’s, the imagination runs wild when thinking of the 70-footers taking the course. There is no doubt now that America’s Cup 34 on San Francisco Bay will be breathtaking, for sailors and non-sailors alike.
48° NORTH, JULY 2011 PAGE 62
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