The latest development by the BMW ORACLE Racing team was unveiled (8 November 2009) when an enormous wing was prepared to be wheeled out of the tent at the team base in San Diego.

The wing will be tested as an option to increase performance compared with a traditional soft sail rig as previously sea-trialed on the BOR 90, the 90-foot trimaran the team has built for the 33rd America’s Cup.

The construction of the wing took place at Core Builders, the team’s boat building facility in Anacortes, Washington, with finishing work completed at the team base in San Diego.

“This was a massive undertaking,” said Tim Smyth (NZL), who, along with Mark Turner (NZL), has been overseeing the wing construction team in Anacortes and in San Diego.

“Building a wing of this size was something new for all of us, and we’re proud our guys were able to rise to the challenge.”

A wing of this scale has never been built for a race boat. In terms of size, the wing on BOR 90 dwarfs those on modern aircraft. Towering nearly 190 ft (57 m) above the deck, it is 80 percent bigger than a wing on a 747 airplane (102 ft / 31 m).

The primary advantage of the wing over a soft sail is that it is easier to control and does not distort. This makes it easier for the trimmers on board to maintain an optimum aerofoil shape in a wide range of conditions.

Full-scale, on-the-water testing of the wing will begin later this week as the team resumes sea trials in preparation for the 33rd America’s Cup Match in February 2010.

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Guide to Ras Al Khamiah www.rasalkhaimah.eu

Shortly after returning to shore, helmsman Jimmy Spithill expressed pride in how his team responded on the water when the mast came down.

“The crew are all safe and all of the contingencies that are built into the programme really showed today. I just commend the crew and all our support boats for swinging into action.”

RIBs that follow the BOR 90 during testing sessions recovered the damaged mast and returned to the base later in the evening.

The team will be assessing all the available data to gain a full understanding of what happened.

“We really need to go back and look into the numbers and see what footage we have. Right now, it’s too early to say why and where it failed,” Spithill said.

“The biggest priority was making sure everyone was safe and getting back to the dock and now we’ll evaluate (what happened).”

12 August 2009 – Video – BNW Oracle Racing Technology Montage

1 August 2009 – Video – BMW Oracle Racing, BOR90 flying two hulls

Video – BMW ORACLE Racing, BOR 90 Out of the Tent,

16 October 2009 Important boat components arrive in San Diego.

Two trucks containing boat components have arrived at the BMW ORACLE Racing team testing base in San Diego, after completing a 2,000 kilometer (1300 mile) journey.

The carbon fiber components were built at Core Builders, the team’s Anacortes boat-building facility in Washington State.

These new structures will be used in future modifications to the giant trimaran, known as BOR 90, that the team is preparing to race in the 33rd America’s Cup.

“Everything has arrived in good shape and we’re pleased we can move on to our next stage of boat development,” said Mark Turner (NZL), boat construction manager.

BOR 90 emerged from the boat-building tent in San Diego on Tuesday, following the latest round of modifications and is scheduled to return to the water for more testing before the end of the month.

13 October 2009

Following three weeks of modifications, the BOR 90 emerged today from the boat building tent at the team base in San Diego.

The latest iteration of the giant trimaran the team will use to challenge for the 33rd America’s Cup boasts new features which will be worked up on shore, before the boat hits the water for more testing near the end of the month.

Most significantly, and in response to the new rules issued earlier this year for the 33rd America’s Cup by the Defender, SNG/Alinghi, the team has modified the BOR 90 cockpit to accommodate an engine. For the first time in the history of the America’s Cup, the Defender has altered the racing rules to allow using an engine to replace human power on board the race boats. Since the Cup’s inception in 1851, and in almost all other yacht racing, only manual (human) power may be used to trim sails and do other work.

On BOR 90, the engine will primarily be used to drive hydraulics for trimming the enormous sails – the mainsail alone measures nearly 7,000 square feet – that propel the boat.

Alinghi’s insistence on the use of engines has resulted in the team having not only to add an engine and related gear, but to redesign the boat’s cockpit on the center hull. With the engine, there is no longer a requirement for the grinding pedestals and sailors (“grinders”) who until now provided the human power for the boat, so the cockpit has been reconfigured.

“When we originally designed and built the BOR 90, we assumed we would have to use the crew to provide all the power on board, as that has always been the case in the America’s Cup,” said design team director Mike Drummond.

“With the change to the rules, we’ve had to adapt, adjust and modify. Otherwise, the engine power that Alinghi designed into their boat would have given them a significant advantage. This all part of the process of preparing to race in February. We’ll spend some time with the boat on shore now, doing some finishing work and preliminary tests and then we’ll be sailing again to continue our boat testing and development.”

10 October 2009

BMW ORACLE Racing has completed work on a set of important new components at its Anacortes boat-building facility in Washington State – Core Builders. The new parts will be trucked this week to the team’s testing base in San Diego.

The carbon fiber components rolled out of Anacortes early Saturday morning and will soon be bound for San Diego. These latest structures will be used in future modifications to the BOR 90, the giant trimaran that the team is preparing for the 33rd America’s Cup. This next phase of development will be unveiled in San Diego in a few weeks.

The team’s boat construction managers were pleased to see the latest build project on its way to San Diego.

“Our Anacortes crew have been a vital part of our last two America’s Cup campaigns,” said Tim Smyth (NZL), who, along with Mark Turner (NZL), has been overseeing the boat-building project for the team.

“For this campaign, and with this boat, we’ve been building on a scale that hasn’t been attempted in the modern America’s Cup,” Smyth said. “For all of us, this has been a big test of our skills and ability, and the team here in Anacortes has more than responded to the challenge. I’m very proud of what’s being accomplished here.”

While boat building activity has increased in San Diego with the latest BOR 90 modifications, the Core Builders facility in Anacortes remains the backbone of the team’s American construction operations. The team in Anacortes will continue to work on America’s Cup-related projects.

The BOR 90 has been undergoing modifications in the tent-boatshed at the San Diego base since its most recent round of sea trials concluded September 20th. The boat is scheduled to emerge after the latest modifications this week and will return to the water for further testing before the end of the month.

BMW ORACLE Racing is preparing to face Alinghi in the 33rd America’s Cup in February 2010.