New AC72 launch vid

 ORACLE TEAM USA officially launched the team’s second AC72 on April 23, marking the culmination of months of work for the design, build and shore teams. Now it’s up to the sailing team to push it and develop the fastest AC72 on San Francisco Bay.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=gKLWSexq71o

Oracle Team USA officially launched the team’s second AC72 today from the team base at Pier 80 in San Francisco.

Helmsman Jimmy Spithill led the team and audience in a toast after Oracle Chief Marketing Officer Judy Sim broke a bottle of champagne across the bowsprit. The boat was then lowered into the San Francisco Bay before docking out for the first time.

“It’s an awesome day. We’re all very, very excited to get it out on the water,” said Spithill. “We hope to develop the fastest AC72 that will hit the Bay. There’s been a lot of energy, a lot of hours, put into this boat from the entire team. Now, it’s up to the sailors, along with the support of the rest of the team, to get out there and really try to get the most out of this boat.”

Spithill recognised the months of work put into the design and build of the boat in preparation for launch. “We have the best, most committed shore team, build team, design team, and the entire team is behind us, supporting us,” he said. “They’re the first to arrive, the last to leave, work 7 days a week, just to provide us with a reliable, race-winning boat, ready to go.”
Named Oracle Team USA 17, the boat is the second AC72 launched by Oracle Team USA and marks the start of the next phase in the team’s campaign. Training commences on the new boat this week, and by late spring the team plans to have both AC72s on the Bay as they prepare to defend the America’s Cup this September.

“There’s been an enormous amount of work that has gone into this boat,” said CEO Russell Coutts during the launch. “It represents extreme performance and extreme engineering. It represents a significant improvement in performance over where we’ve been before. And probably most importantly, this represents the boat that is going to defend the America’s Cup, for America, in America.”