Elliott Wilson has the story in the Skagit Valley Herald:
[Photos courtesy of BMW ORACLE Racing]
ANACORTES — It wasn’t a bird. It wasn’t a plane that the BMW Oracle Racing sailing team trucked away from here last month.
That doesn’t mean it won’t fly.
The team’s baseball diamond-sized America’s Cup trimaran now has a wing instead of a cloth sail. The 190-foot-tall wing is by far the largest wing ever created, and it was made here in Skagit County, said New Zealander Tim Smyth, the team’s construction manager.
He said the boat has gone up to 40 knots and that its speed can triple that of the wind. When the boat is moving fast, two of its three hulls lift into the air, hoisting the crew high above the water’s surface.
