Here is the successor to the 2010 USA17 BMW ORACLE Racing Team boat, winner of the 33rd America's Cup in Valencia Spain. The new boat is the USA17 ORACLE Racing Team AC72 and it, along with its major competitors, employs hydrofoil wings to lift the boat out of the water to increase boat speed.
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This graphic illustrates the difference in the size of the two USA17 boats. On the left is the 2010 boat which is substantially larger than the 2013 boat on the right.
The chatter right now is that Team USA will have their hands full competing with whichever challenger emerges from the Louis Vuitton series, especially New Zealand. The problem with USA17 is it tends to nose down while hydroplaning reducing its speed. Team ORACLE is currently building a second boat and it is expected to resolve the technical problems seen in the first boat. We'll see!
Team USA will defend the Cup in San Francisco with the 34th Americas' Cup finals staring September 7, 2013.
UPDATE: April 26, 2013
Boat 2 is ready! Look how steady and solid she looks! It looks like they solved the issue of the bow dipping. The rear transverse beam is much heavier on this boat than the one on Boat 1 (perhaps to balance her out some?) Love the new paint job also. Check out the new video of her maiden voyage:
UPDATE:
Team USA comes from behind to win the 34th America's Cup! Unbelievable! The time out was critical. They never gave up, and the shore team put in countless hours in the shed improving the boat speed. Congratulations USA17 ORACLE Racing Team!
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