Spithill after flying Oracle AC72 #2: “Very Stiff , very Responsive”
A full structural redesign beyond moving the front beam forward and daggercase backwards. Oracle has now a pretty refined/stiffer machine (what happened to those saying that the extreme scary flex was a design goal????) and if they can escape pitchs they might be faster enough to retain the Cup. Still betting on ETNZ though as clearly OR is trailing behind the Kiwis key flying concepts.
Although Oracle is quite confident on their comparative performance, check this AC Uncut video on their thoughts on where they stand, the only problem is hearing how they have performed virtual races between all boats … for sure it will help them to know where they stand, more after their test with AR #1 but they must remember that AR trusted 100% on those predictions too…
Is this the best Oracle can come up with for their boat 2.After watching a couple of youtube videos of bt2 trying to foil I still notice some flexing between hulls although better than bt1.Also they are still struggling to stay on a constant foil before it starts to nosedive and brop off.After watching ETNZ in Aucklands Hauraki Gulf,their bt2 went straight onto the foil which look like forever and the ability to manouvre and change direction while on the foil was breathtaking.The only thing that looks impressive on Oracles boat is their paint job.
Cheers,Pete.
They think by painting their boat like ETNZ, they might go as fast. I doubt it. OR have played follow the leader since the beginning, & will be doing that right to the end. Let's see if their new wing will have a twisting leading element, like ETNZ.