America's Cup 2010 - the competitors - page 2

Catamaran Alinghi 5
Alinghi 5 is the fruit of years of multihull development on Lake Geneva and the creation of the Alinghi 23-member design team headed by Grant Simmer, Rolf Vrolijk and Dirk Kramers. The innovative catamaran was built at Alinghi’s premises in Villeneuve, in collaboration with Decision, and was launched on July 8th 2009. The yacht has its roots in previous Alinghi Swiss lake racing multihulls such as the Decision 35’s and the 41 foot Le Black.

Giant multihull
One of the key design features of Alinghi 5 is its light but stiff Y-shape central spine. The yacht’s carbon fibre structures include optic-fibre sensors which provide real time monitoring of the boat. Its canting mast is the equivalent height of a 17 storey building and withstands compression comparable to 50 SUVs balanced on a foundation the size of a tennis ball; its beam is the equivalent in size to two tennis courts side by side; and its gennaker, at 1,100m2, is one of the biggest in the world.

BMW ORACLE's "USA"
BMW's giant trimaran
A team of over 30 designers and scientists are responsible for the innovative design of BMW ORACLE’s giant trimaran, led by Design Director Mike Drummond and Design Coordinator Ian ‘Fresh’ Burns. The trimaran offers the option of sailing with a conventional mast and soft sails, or with a massive wing sail which towers over 220 feet (68 metres) above the deck.

Larger than a Boeing's wing
The wing sail is over twice as big as the wing of a Boeing 747 airplane and is the largest wing sail ever fitted to a sailing boat. It was unveiled on November 8th and is comprised of a main element with nine flaps. It is constructed from aeronautical film over a lightweight, carbon-kevlar structure. On August 22nd 2008, the 90ft trimaran was unveiled at the team’s build facility in Anacortes, WA (USA) and it was launched three days later for sea trials and testing.

America's Cup official website: americascup.com

More on Alinghi: alinghi.com

More on BMW ORACLE racing: bmworacleracing.com

More on the America's Cup 2010