America's Cup -Oracle Team USA sails first AC45S in Match venue +Video

by Sail-World.com on 5 May 2015 Oracle Team USA have became the first America’s Cup team to sail an AC45S boat on the Great Sound in Bermuda.

The AC45S is the development version of the AC45 class that can be used as a surrogate boat to be used as a test boat for the 3ft longer one design AC48 to be used in the America's Cup.

The AC45S can be proportioned to mimic the slightly longer boat of which as Defender Oracle Team USA are permitted to build two compared to the one each allowed by the Challengers.

The teams will sail a one design foiling version of the AC45 boat in the America's Cup World Series the first round of which will start in Portsmouth, UK in July.

On Monday, the defending champion of the America’s Cup launched its training boat for the first time and put in over two hours of testing on the future race course of the America’s Cup.

“Today is the first day for our AC45 out on the Great Sound. We’ve been working towards this moment for nearly six months since Bermuda was announced as the venue,” said Tom Slingsby, the sailing team manager and tactician for the team.

“The goal today is to commission the boat. While this AC45S has sailed before in February, today we need to get out there, check all the systems and make sure everything is working as it should.”

Although Slingsby said the real training and practice would take place later in the week, it didn’t take the team long to start pushing both boat and crew.

“Pretty much from the start we were foil-gybing and we even took a crack at a couple of foiling tacks. It was fantastic. A perfect day in Bermuda with 15 knots of breeze. ” said skipper Jimmy Sptithill, who also navigated the boat at speed through a local race course.

“The International One Design fleet was out having a race and we were absolutely tearing past them and we were getting a few hoots and hollers,” Spithill said. “People are really blown away when they see what this boat can do.”

Oracle Team USA will continue to train on its AC45S as well as the smaller foiling Phantom catamarans and Moths on the Great Sound over the coming weeks.

“It’s a real statement to be the first ones out there on the 45-footer and to get a feel for the race course on a boat of this size,” Spithill said. “It can only help to give us an advantage as we come into the race period.”