It’s been a big year for Oracle’s Larry Ellison. In June, he purchased the Hawaiian island of Lanai and yesterday the mogul’s America’s Cup team battled its way back from a seven-win deficit to take the coveted sailing event in San Francisco Bay.
This past summer during Maker Camp, we got a chance to go behind the scenes with Oracle Team USA to learn about their blazingly fast catamaran and the technology that makes it fly across the water. Oracle Team USA boats are seven-ton, wing-sail catamarans capable of speeds typically seen only on highways. At 43 knots boatspeed, the boats are capable of sailing their 72-foot length in a single second.
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