Is it a boat? A plane? America's Cup challenger unveils giant wing for trimaran

SAN DIEGO - First an engine, then an enormous wing.

This really is going to be the most radical America's Cup in the regatta's 158-year history.

American challenger BMW Oracle Racing unveiled what is believed to be the world's largest wing on Sunday, which it will test as a replacement for a traditional soft-sail rig on its monster trimaran.

Complete with flaps, the wing will tower nearly 190 feet above the deck when it's installed this week. It is longer than the wing of an Airbus A380, the world's largest passenger airliner.

"It's an awesome piece of kit," skipper and CEO Russell Coutts said recently after giving The Associated Press a sneak preview of the gigantic foil, which BMW Oracle Racing hopes will give it the edge against defending champion Alinghi of Switzerland.

The wing adds another dimension to an already over-the-top America's Cup, which will feature two of the fastest, most extreme boats ever built for sailing's premier regatta. BMW Oracle Racing's trimaran is 90-by-90 feet, and Alinghi has built an equally immense catamaran.

Both carbon-fiber giants feature engines to run hydraulic systems that trim their sails and move water ballast from one hull to another, a first in America's Cup history.

A long, bitter court fight between the billionaire bosses of the powerhouse sailing teams has led to a rare head-to-head showdown for the oldest trophy in international sports.

The teams met in New York this weekend to try to settle their spat over the venue, with the options for the best-of-three series being Valencia, Spain, or Australia's east coast. They are to report Monday to a New York State Supreme Court justice who has been presiding over the ongoing legal tussle.

Racing is scheduled to start Feb. 8.

Late Sunday afternoon, BMW Oracle Racing peeled back the flaps of the tent where the wing was assembled during the last several weeks. The team originally planned to wheel it to the boat starting Sunday evening, but decided to do load tests in the tent. Plans are to install it in the trimaran in the next day or two, depending on the weather.

Full-scale testing is expected to begin later in the week.

The wing was unveiled five days after the trimaran's 200-foot carbon-fiber mast fell and broke in two during a sail on the Pacific Ocean. No crewmen were injured.

If the wing works, it will be used against Alinghi.

Coutts, who has an engineering degree, said the lift coefficient of a wing can achieve two to three times the power of a soft mainsail.

"It's pretty cool," said Coutts, who sailed undefeated through three straight America's Cup matches, the first two with his native New Zealand and then for Alinghi in 2003.

Coutts had a falling out with Alinghi boss Ernesto Bertarelli and was fired in 2004. Coutts was barred from sailing in the 2007 America's Cup, then hired by BMW Oracle Racing owner Larry Ellison of Oracle Corp., perhaps adding an extra layer of bitterness to the heated rivalry.

The primary advantage of the wing over a soft sail is that it's easier to control and does not distort, Coutts said. That makes it easier for the trimmers to maintain an optimum aerofoil shape in a wide range of conditions.

The wing includes a built-in carbon-fiber spar. The wing itself is made of an aeronautical film.

Coutts said the sailors can change the characteristics of the wing instantly, "just like an airplane."

Coutts said it will be a chore for the sailors to handle the wing.

"The size and scale are the main challenges," he said.

The wing follows by a few weeks the installation of a BMW engine to trim the trimaran's sails — and now to move the wing.

Alinghi changed the rules earlier this year and built its big cat with an engine. America's Cup boats have traditionally used manual power to trim sails.

The wing was built in Anacortes, Wash., and its components trucked to San Diego for assembly.

"This is one of the most awesome sailing projects you could ever be involved with in terms of pushing technology," sailing coach Glenn Ashby said in a statement. "Just seeing it go out on the water is going to be awesome."