Monday, August 25, 2008

The big show...









Thanks to credit " Photo Gilles Martin-Raget/ BMW ORACLE Racing

Anacortes, WA, USA, August 25, 2008- BMW ORACLE Racing’s new 90-foot multihull yacht touched water for the first time today and the trimaran was commissioned with the traditional bottle of champagne smashed across the bow.
In a team gathering at the water’s edge, the carbon fiber boat was lowered into Fidalgo Bay in front of the boat yard where it was constructed on the Anacortes waterfront. Melinda Erkelens, Golden Gate Yacht Club board member and BMW ORACLE Racing team member, broke a bottle of Moët et Chandon as she commissioned the new BMW ORACLE Racing 90.
"We have learned a lot and developed a lot of new technology in building this boat and I’m really looking forward to testing it on the water," said team CEO and Skipper Russell Coutts. "It is going to be an interesting challenge and we will need to build up slowly and carefully to testing its full potential," Coutts said.
The team expects sea trials to begin in early September once the fit-out is complete and structural load tests are conducted dockside.