Sunday, December 7, 2008

'Dogzilla' fastest inshore trimaran...

Yachting: Oracle's 'Dogzilla' fastest inshore trimaran, says Coutts
By NZPA. - New Zealand sailor Russell Coutts says the black trimaran he has been sailing for America's Cup wannabe Larry Ellison is the fastest inshore sailboat in the world.

BMW Oracle Racing's 30m trimaran was docked in San Diego harbour last week, its towering mast giving the high-rise hotels some competition.

"I'm staying on the 13th floor, and I'm not at the mast yet," Coutts told an International Herald Tribune reporter.

Coutts won the America's Cup with Team New Zealand in 1995 and 2000 before leading the Swiss Alinghi team to victory over Team New Zealand at Auckland in 2003.

He now heads the BMW Oracle team, and skippers its "Dogzilla', the latest high-tech trimaran, which he said is "the fastest".

While most big trimarans were built for offshore racing, this one was designed for inshore racing and has been clocked at speeds twice that of the wind.

"It's much lighter, more powerful with a much bigger mast, sails and so forth and much more extreme," Coutts said.

"This boat is a no compromise lightweight flyer basically, so there's a huge difference." Full report here