Coutts turns new Oracle catamaran upside down
Source: Agencies |
June 15, 2011, Wednesday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
ORACLE Racing unleashed a new class of catamarans in San Francisco on Monday ahead of races leading up to the 34th America's Cup in 2013 and accidentally capsized one head over heels.
Oracle Racing Chief Executive Russell Coutts sent one of the nimble AC45 into a cartwheel during an informal race against skipper James Spithill as they began practicing in San Francisco Bay, where they will be during June.
"We'll be duking it out and trying to beat the hell out of each other to get these guys ready to go and race the cup," Coutts said before the capsize left a damaged sail and sent one crew member to hospital for x-rays.
"Everyone's wearing helmets for a reason, there's a significant amount of risk," said Spithill.
Oracle Racing, backed by billionaire Larry Ellison, designed the 45-foot boats - with hard sails shaped like an airplane wing - as part of broader efforts to attract more viewers to the America's Cup.
Built in New Zealand, this is their first United States appearance.
Standardizing the boats used in sailing's most prestigious event is meant to put the focus squarely on sailors' talent instead of the technological advantages of their designs.
The competition has been reorganized to attract sponsors put off by bitter legal wrangling that clouded the 2010 Cup won in Valencia, Spain, by Oracle.
Competitors will use the new 45-foot carbon-fiber catamarans in the 2011-2012 Americas Cup World Series starting in Cascais, Portugal, in August, with larger AC72 72-foot catamarans, which have yet to be built, raced the following year at the America's Cup in San Francisco.
Changes also include shorter races, and independent race management with an international jury.
The winner of the Louis Vuitton Cup, held in San Francisco Bay and starting in July 2013, will race Oracle, the Golden Gate Yacht Club's defending team, in the America's Cup in September. BMW Oracle won the last Cup which was overshadowed by more than two years of legal battles between Ellison and biotechnology tycoon Ernesto Bertarelli, owner of Swiss team Alinghi.
Oracle Racing Chief Executive Russell Coutts sent one of the nimble AC45 into a cartwheel during an informal race against skipper James Spithill as they began practicing in San Francisco Bay, where they will be during June.
"We'll be duking it out and trying to beat the hell out of each other to get these guys ready to go and race the cup," Coutts said before the capsize left a damaged sail and sent one crew member to hospital for x-rays.
"Everyone's wearing helmets for a reason, there's a significant amount of risk," said Spithill.
Oracle Racing, backed by billionaire Larry Ellison, designed the 45-foot boats - with hard sails shaped like an airplane wing - as part of broader efforts to attract more viewers to the America's Cup.
Built in New Zealand, this is their first United States appearance.
Standardizing the boats used in sailing's most prestigious event is meant to put the focus squarely on sailors' talent instead of the technological advantages of their designs.
The competition has been reorganized to attract sponsors put off by bitter legal wrangling that clouded the 2010 Cup won in Valencia, Spain, by Oracle.
Competitors will use the new 45-foot carbon-fiber catamarans in the 2011-2012 Americas Cup World Series starting in Cascais, Portugal, in August, with larger AC72 72-foot catamarans, which have yet to be built, raced the following year at the America's Cup in San Francisco.
Changes also include shorter races, and independent race management with an international jury.
The winner of the Louis Vuitton Cup, held in San Francisco Bay and starting in July 2013, will race Oracle, the Golden Gate Yacht Club's defending team, in the America's Cup in September. BMW Oracle won the last Cup which was overshadowed by more than two years of legal battles between Ellison and biotechnology tycoon Ernesto Bertarelli, owner of Swiss team Alinghi.
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