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BMW Oracle Racing Victory Tour
Comes to Canada Toronto, Canada, November 5, 2010 |
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The BMW Oracle Racing Team, winner of the 33rd America�s Cup last February, continued its America�s Cup Victory Tour with a visit to Toronto. Accompanied by the famous America�s Cup itself, it is believed that this is the first time that one of sports� most iconic trophies has been brought to Canada. BMW Oracle Racing won the America�s Cup in Valencia, Spain, last February, culminating a ten-year quest by team owner Larry Ellison. James Spithill (Sydney, Australia) steered the giant, wingsailed trimaran USA 17 to a 2-0 victory over Switzerland�s Alinghi to become, at 30 years of age, the youngest winning skipper in the 159-year history of the America�s Cup. The trimaran USA 17 is the fastest-ever yacht the Cup has seen, a trimaran measuring 90 feet in length and width and powered by 68-meter (223-foot) tall wingsail, a wing bigger than that on a Boeing 747 or Airbus A380. The highlight of the team�s America�s Cup victory occurred in June with a visit to the White House and meeting with President Barack Obama. It was just the second time that the America�s Cup has met a sitting president (President Ronald Reagan, 1987). The tour has previously seen the trophy taken to Auckland, New Zealand; Rome and Sardinia, Italy; San Francisco and San Diego, California; Anacortes and Seattle, Washington, and Newport, R.I. Amongst the �Canadian connection� with BMW Oracle Racing are sailing team members Brian MacInnes (Nova Scotia) and Ross Halcrow, a Kiwi turned Canadian. Multihull sailor Magnus Clarke (Toronto) was night skipper aboard USA 17. The 18-storey tall wingsail meant that the yacht was always trying to sail, even on the mooring. Spithill handed-over to Clarke, winner of the International C Class Catamaran Championship in August, as soon as USA 17 was tethered. Fred Eaton (Toronto), owner and skipper of the International C Class Catamaran Championship winner Canaan, gave generous assistance to Spithill�s crew with training sessions aboard his own wingsailed catamaran, whilst Paul Henderson, former president of the International Sailing Federation, was an unflinching friend of the team. The America�s Cup trophy was made in 1848 by the London Crown Jewelers, Garrard. It pre-dates Hockey�s Stanley Cup by 45 years. The program at the Royal Canadian Yacht Club
included a special presentation to juniors. Additional Links and Info: |
