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John Kostecki has sailed in the Olympics, the America's Cup and around the world a few times.
Even with such an extensive resume, it's safe to say Kostecki had never seen anything like the 90-foot trimaran BMW Oracle Racing hopes to sail against two-time defending America's Cup champion Alinghi sometime next year.
"Oh no, there isn't anything like this, a multihull like this," Kostecki said by phone Tuesday from Anacortes, Wash. "We're testing the limits, you know?"
The trimaran, with a space-age look and a mast, boom and mainsail that dwarf its crew, was launched last week and tested to make sure the three carbon-fiber hulls can handle the enormous loads the rigging will put on it under full sail.
On Monday, 14 sailors - including three-time America's Cup winner Russell Coutts - and eight designers and builders were aboard for its shakedown cruise on Puget Sound.
"It's pretty cool," Kostecki said before heading out onto the water again on Tuesday aboard the boat, known as BMW Oracle Racing 90.
"I'd rate it as a huge success," said Kostecki, the tactician. "We didn't break anything, everything more or less worked and the boat went quite fast. We didn't really do any serious speed tests or anything, but the initial feeling is it feels great. It seems to be going quite well."
The wind ranged from 6 to 12 knots.
"A couple of times when we were just cruising along with just the main up with a couple of reefs, I saw 20 knots," Kostecki said. "There wasn't a whole lot of wind, which was good, because we didn't want too much on the first day. We were quite happy with the performance of the boat. It probably exceeded our expectations."
Kostecki estimates the boat can hit 36 to 40 knots in the right conditions.
The dimensions of the boat - which reportedly cost more than $10 million - are staggering even to its sailors. The boat is 90 feet long by 90 feet wide, the mast is 158 feet tall and the mainsail is approximately 5,300 square feet.
"The length isn't too intimidating, but the mast is pretty spectacular," Kostecki said. "When we have somebody up the mast, it's amazing how small they look compared to the mast."
Even with all the time, effort and money that have gone into it, the trimaran might not get the chance to sail for the oldest trophy in international sports.
BMW Oracle Racing, owned by Oracle software boss Larry Ellison, built it in anticipation of a one-on-one showdown against Alinghi.
San Francisco's Golden Gate Yacht Club, which backs BMW Oracle Racing, and Societe Nautique de Geneve, the club that backs Alinghi, have been fighting in New York courts since the end of the last America's Cup in July 2007.
GGYC initially secured a court ruling that it was the rightful Challenger of Record, meaning it had the right to negotiate terms of a traditional multichallenger regatta with Alinghi. When the two syndicates couldn't agree to terms, it appeared they were headed toward a showdown in giant multihulls.
But last month, the New York Supreme Court's Appellate Division ruled 3-2 that Spain's Club Nautico Espanol de Vela, not GGYC, should be the Challenger of Record. That appeared to send the Cup back to its traditional format of several challengers vying in monohulls, not multihulls, for the right to face the defender in the America's Cup match.
GGYC has filed a last-chance appeal with the New York State Court of Appeals in Albany.
Until there's definitive word from the court, the sailors will continue preparing their boat.
"Absolutely. That's why we have her," Kostecki said. "I try not to get too involved with all that. We're hoping to race this boat someday, and hopefully someday soon. Hopefully all the court stuff can get resolved."
Sea trials will continue for the next few weeks.
"This boat is incredibly challenging," said Coutts, the syndicate's CEO and skipper. "We will take it conservatively in this testing session as we learn more about the boat and its potential."
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