Oracle Flips its America's Cup Boat off San Francisco

The America's Cup sailing team sponsored by Oracle (and its Hank Scorpio-esque CEO Larry Ellison) suffered a minor set-back during a practice run on Tuesday when the team's new ultra-fast catamaran flipped in the waters off San Francisco.

The AC72 catamarans don't use sails, having carbon-fiber "wings" instead which help propel it to intense speeds. When the wings hit the water though they left a trail of (very expensive) debris. The crew was nearly helpless as a strong tide started carrying the light boat under the Golden Gate Bridge and out to sea; it took hours before the crew was able to tow their vessel back to shore and begin the tiring work of repairing their $8-10M ship.

I guess that's why they call it practice.

Why did the boat flip? Some might say it was because of the strong currents and 25-knot winds, some might say it's because some men want to watch the world burn, or perhaps just because rich guys like to make a pretty splash.

[Wired]