“The new boat really is on the cutting edge of technology,” says Oracle Team USA skipper Jimmy Spithill. “I mean we really are breaking new ground in the construction, the engineering; for the first time, we’re seeing a boat that really pushes the athletes on board.”
At 72.2 feet with a wing area of almost 2800 square feet, the boats are built to be as light and fast–but also as strong–as possible. The hard wing essentially functions like an airplane wing and allows the boats to go exceptionally fast, even in adverse current that the AC72s will see in San Francisco.
“For all of us as sailors, whatever happens in this America’s Cup, we will remember sailing the AC72 forever,” says Chris Draper.
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Video Courtesy of Red Bull
