32nd America’s Cup new fleet: BMW Oracle Racing




I don’t know the reason but despite the opinion that they are not the favorites among big challengers, I really fear Larry Ellison’s Team. It will be that he has a great personality and never gives up a fight but I feel that they can do the “exploit” when you do not expect it. I feel how his personality it is transferring in his boats. It’ a kind of magic.
There are also a couple of numbers to worry about. The near 200 million $ budget and the newer USA-98.
“Our time in New Zealand exceeded our expectations on all fronts,” Chris Dickson, CEO and Skipper of BMW ORACLE Racing said. “We sailed in a full range of conditions which gave us the chance to fully sea trial USA 98 with new rigs, sails and appendage packages. While it is still early days with USA 98, we are all pleased with the performance to date. Even more importantly, our in-house racing programme has the crew closer to being ready for the Louis Vuitton Cup now less than two months way,” Dickson said.
We cannot see the new boat in action and do not much more than the bowsprit disappeared. Other teams tested this solution: Alinghi, China Team and Shosoloza but it seems not to perform as expected. Also Alinghi is thinking to take it away.

What’s sure is that BOR design team is the one that is exploring different and innovative solution, taking risks.

I remember USA-87 not too fast but able to tack rapidly making impressively accelerations after the transition. This fuzzy design approach increases my fear.
Read this Q & A with Ian Burns the Chief Designer of BOR, on NZ Herald
They worked on USA 87 to better perform speed. Once they solved this problem the Ellison’ Armada could be the unreachable outsider. Here some quotes:

“The ongoing refinement of 87 has always been a major part of our plan to ensure that the 2007 version of 87 is as fast or faster than our opposition.”

The BOR Design Team is trying to reach the next level:

It has been suggested that 98 was constructed differently from 87. A construction technique, created by Paul Bieker, that has never been tried before in a boat this large. Is this true and can you elaborate?

“I have never seen anything quite like the building process that was used on 98. It led to big gains in strength, stiffness and weight. I can’t elaborate on the actual process, but when you put designer Paul Bieker together with builders Mark Turner, Tim Smyth and Mark Somerville and give them access to the aerospace resources in Seattle, you can count on reaching a new level.”

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