BMW Oracle building two 70ft catamarans in New Zealand?
First of all, I want to stress that this story is based on an anonymous comment made in a previous article about Ben Ainslie and his comment on the "massive" advantage BMW Oracle would have if the 34th America's Cup boat were indeed a wingmast catamaran. As a result, there is no guarantee at all it is true. It could be a hoax or a simple lie but it could also be an interesting development.
The official announcement on the type of boat to be used in this edition of the Cup will be made in just 4 days right here in Valencia. However, whatever yacht it turns out to be, it is obvious that the final decision was taken various months ago. Similarly, the decision on the boats to be used in 2011 must have already been taken. In addition, if BMW Oracle's intention is to start next year's pre-regattas in April on yachts they would provide, similar to the format of the Louis Vuitton Trophies, these boats must already be in construction.
One has to bear in mind that these yachts, called "2011 Yachts" in the Protocol, do not have to comply with the America’s Cup Class Rules but only with the "2011 Yacht Rules", that is "the class rules of the yacht determined by the Event Authority to be used in the pre regattas prior to the implementation of the AC Class Yachts, with all interpretations, rulings and amendments.", as per the Protocol. As a result, even if the America’s Cup Class Rules are not finalized before the end of September, the "2011 Yachts" can already be built, as long as the "2011 Yacht Rules" are ready. According to the Protocol, the 2011 rules will be announced one month after the America's Cup Class announcement, that means before the end of October.
So, according to the anonymous comment, "for the past 2 months BMW Oracle have quietly been building 2 70´cats with soft sails for next years LVS, right here in NZ. Have a look at their facility in Warkworth......."
It is a plausible scenario with the two catamarans being ready early next year so they can be tested during the southern hemisphere summer. Last but not least, if you were the Defender and your intention was to have a 72ft catamaran as the new America's Cup boat, the 2011 class would be something very similar!!
Any Valencia Sailing reader in or near Warkworth, NZ willing to shed any light?
Labels: 34th America's Cup, BMW Oracle
24 Comments:
as soon you realise and accept Coutts is a cheater, it is indeed well plausible.
Quit making/taking everything so personal. That's an extremely asinine statement about Coutts. How is this cheating if they will be supplied and used for the LVS?
It's really enough! The only answer
is not to participate...
My guess is its a hoax, but given how imperious Russell and BOR have been acting lately, nothing would surprise me.
"My guess is its a hoax, but given how imperious Russell and BOR have been acting lately, nothing would surprise me."
If it was true, what would be so imperious about building the cats and providing them for the LVS?
I have diffivculties seeing a problem here unless you want to keep racing ACV5 boats.
It is the defenders duty to plan and think ahead and if they didn't some hardcore whiners on Valencia Sailing would certainly call for a BOFD case. You can't have it bothe ways...
And if you prefer not to participate - fine with me - but please stay away and shut up then...
That's exactly what Russell wants...
heard some rumors that they building in NZ the wingmast for new multi!!! Where is the democratic way, fair rules, compromise.............?????
No matter what happens there will be whiners .As is cleary the case.Alot are worried about there jobs. because they want to sail very boring lead mines and only know how to sail lead mines.Take a good look at what just happend with this cup and the tech side of things .people all ove the world who are not yacthes were interested.And living here in San francisco we look at it with an open mind.Its time to move ahead.Look at the peope sailing Moths and were sailing is going.we need to look at the future and its not in boring boats.and As I said no matter who has the cup there will never be happy people but a buch of un happy children.Take a good look at sailing in general and the growing fleets large and small .take a look even at crusing boats .the growth is in multi hulls .I have 40yrs in small boats and Grand pre yachts world wide .so I belive I come with an open mind.Its where I hope the cup goes.its good for yachting and the future of our sport.
to be fair there is not a lot of point of winning and not gaining an advantage. as we all know the AC is about more than sailing it is about power and money and ALWAYS HAS BEEN
may be coutts has been bulshitting but so would have anybody else.
if they are building 2 70 foot cats hopefully with wing masts for the LV next year it will be a lot more fun than old v5 boats and all teams will gain some information
Perhaps have a read (dated, but provides context - this facility has been in the works for quite a while):
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/warkworth/news/article.cfm?l_id=406&objectid=10553151
I heard the boats are being painted already. They are pink with black polka dots.
I am in Auckland, and have heard nothing. Secrets are hard to keep in our industry here. However I could pop over and have a look if you like Pierre...
Close! I have seen them and they are black, with pink polka dots.
In all seriousness: the two boats will be unveiled live on Monday, it is part of the big show. The strobe lights laser show and smoke effects will be kool.
those are not polka dots
wait till monday and just enjoy
Word on the street is 2011's pre regattas are in x40's with wings
I guess those stating that BMWO has an un-fair advantage are correct after all. BMWO is so far advanced in the design game for AC34 that they felt compelled to build two Cats as a "I'm Sorry" gift to the challenges to cheer them up.
le persone cambiano ma il risultato è sempre lo stesso!!!
Warkworth - isn't that in NZ. Didn't they have a setup somewhere near Seattle ? Why would they move their manufacturing base out of the US if they had any intention of holding the Cup in San Francisco - surely it just adds a whole lot of unnecessary logistical double handling to an always tight build timeframe ? Strange.Maybe this indicates that the whole SF thing is just a smoke screen for their real intentions ?
Defender's main builder is still Core Builders in Anacortes as per the Deed's CIC clause.
The NZ shop was announced ages ago last year and is as I understand it a partnership with Core Builders
ie: www.corebuilders.co.nz
Once again pretty sweet of the AC community to get the loan of some boats by teams who are moving the event forward.
Btw anyone who whines about one team having an advantage isn't a sailor as that's part of the sport.
Sadly still a lot of molded Swiss cheese here ;-)
@5:52 PM
That is surely possible, but there are other things to consider. Primarily, the lads that built USA-17 need a fucking break. They were working non-stop for a long period of time prior to AC33.
FROM www.corebuilders.co.nz
March 15, 2010
About
Filed under: Uncategorized — admin @ 6:34 pm
Core Builders creates cutting edge yachts for pleasure and competition. Most recently we completed the larges Wing ever built and equipped it on the BMW Oracle Racing trimaran, winning the America’s Cup.
We have locations around the world, our most recent build shed having been located in Anacortes, Washington, USA.
Mark “Tugboat” Turner and Tim Smyth are our lead builders.
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What a load of toss. Core Builders ?? Sounds like a sham build set up to me - cutting edge yachts for pleasure and competition ??? Name them.
@1:43
How about these?
USA-71
USA-76
USA-87
USA-98
USA-17 - winner on audi med cup circuit
USA-17 - winner of the Americas Cup
Not bad.
USA-71?
USA-76?
USA-87?
USA-98?
He asked you to name cutting edge yachts. These don't qualify.
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