Flying a hull with the wing-sail mast on BOR 90. Image copyright Gilles Martin-Raget/BMW ORACLE Racing.
by Peter Rusch
Early indications from Tuesday's initial tests are that the wing 'sings'.
It's certainly been a big day. At 02:00 on Tuesday morning, a key group assembled with Tim Smyth (NZL) to begin moving the wing sail. Less than 12 hours later, the wing had been installed, raised, and the boat was out on its first test sail. By the time the BOR 90 returned to its mooring a couple of hours later, big smiles could be seen stretching across the compound.
What follows are a few snippets of conversations heard over the past two weeks here, relating to this project.
Image copyright Gilles Martin-Raget/BMW ORACLE Racing.
At the end of October, Larry Ellison (USA) came to visit the big tent where the wing was being assembled. He thanked the Core Builders team for what he called 'herculean efforts', saying: "You've done an incredible job. Nobody has ever seen anything like this, because there has never been anything like this."
Image copyright Gilles Martin-Raget/BMW ORACLE Racing.
Joseph Ozanne (FRA), one of the lead designers on the wing project, on Monday afternoon, with the wing sail scheduled to emerge overnight: "It's a little bit of a strange feeling. The builders have handed it over (to the sailing team), but for the designers, we still need to see it perform on the water. The birth of this wing, for us, isn't until the first sail..."
Image copyright Gilles Martin-Raget/BMW ORACLE Racing.
On seeing the wing lifted from shore, suspended by two cranes and attached to the hull of the BOR 90, Max Sirena (ITA), who's toiled long and hard on this project: "I'm much, much happier now!"
Matthew Mason (NZL), boat director, looking at the wing after it's been attached to the boat and the crew has begun to lift it from a horizontal to vertical position: "It's a great achievement. This is a big milestone for the team to get the rig up to where it is now (25-degrees). It's freestanding and it's pretty much gone through its maximum load now. So far so good! We'd like to try and do a couple of runs later in the day if everything goes well and we don't have any hiccups."
Image copyright Gilles Martin-Raget/BMW ORACLE Racing.
Some good-natured banter overhead in the sail loft at 15:45 when the sailmakers heard over the radio the boat was on its way back: "Hey guys, let's get ready to unload the sails... Oh, right, we're already done. Never mind!"
Flying a hull with the wing-sail mast on BOR 90. Image copyright Gilles Martin-Raget/BMW ORACLE Racing.
Helmsman Jimmy Spithill (AUS), returning to dock, after his first flight with the wing: "When you think about what we did today - that wing was sitting here in the tent in the early hours this morning and to move it, get it on the boat, get it in position, move the boat off the dock, get the wing vertical and then to go out and sail around in a tight harbour like this one AND to fly a hull… That's a fantastic day! Full credit to all the guys who worked so hard on this project."
BMW ORACLE Racing blog
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