USA 17 Makes Her Bay Debut
One of the first tangible signs of the 34th America’s Cup to grace the San Francsico waterfront sailed under the Gate at O-dark-thirty this morning. Although it wasn’t on her own bottom(s), USA 17, winner of the 33rd Cup, made her way to Pier 80, where she’ll be stationed indefinitely at Oracle Racing’s new base.
The 115-ft-long, 90-ft-wide trimaran and her 223-ft wingmast traveled some 7,900 miles from Valencia, through the Panama Canal and up to the Bay aboard the M.V. Star Isfjord. The unloading of the boat will depend on weather conditions, as she is really light and fragile. We’ve heard a rumor that it might happen at 2 p.m. today, but we couldn’t tell you for sure, and neither could the team for the reason above.
The boat will be in storage for awhile, but the team says they will be putting it on public display in the future. We hope they see fit to put it together and sail it here, but given the enormity of the boat, the expense involved and the fact that they estimated that it took 20 hours of maintenance for every hour sailed, it might end up being the nautical equivalent of the Spruce Goose. We’ve got our fingers crossed that the team does some laps of the Bay with it; what a sight it would be.