BMW Oracle Racing's second new America's Cup yacht, USA98, arrived at the team's base in Auckland early yesterday.
The 24-metre-long racing yacht left BMW Oracle Racing's boatbuilding facility in Anacortes, Washington, before Christmas then was shipped to Tauranga.
The yacht travelled to Auckland by road, arriving before dawn.The syndicate's boat-building and shore teams are now fitting the appendages and mast.
The boat will be launched next week and the sailing team will then conduct sea trials before race training begins. The 2003-generation USA71 will serve as the trial horse.
BMW Oracle Racing chief executive and skipper Chris Dickson said the yacht was the result of more than three years of research and development and the culmination of what they learned from their first new boat, USA87, in the 2006 sailing season.
"We've managed to incorporate all of the developments that we have realised in our technical and on-the-water programme with USA 71, USA 76 and USA 87. The next step is to let the sailing team work with USA 98 to get the most out of her on the racecourse. The time for testing is over; it is the year of the cup and time for racing."
The syndicate has planned a sailing programme in Auckland over the next five weeks.
"The fastest way we know to get our new yacht sailing to full potential is racing and our in-house racing programme will accelerate this process," Dickson said.
"It's great to finally be in race mode. Our team has been working hard at this for three years and the focus is purely on winning the upcoming races. We intend to leave in February with our race crew and our newest race boat in top form. We will then continue tuning-up in Valencia with USA 87."
At this stage, it is not clear whether BMW Oracle Racing and Team New Zealand will square off in a regatta in their new boats. Although both teams appear keen, the question is whether Oracle can get their boat up to speed and are happy to race it before both return to Valencia. The challenger series starts on April 16 and the America's Cup match on June 23.
