Airbus team making vital contributions to America’s Cup champion

New wave in Airbus and ORACLE TEAM USA partnership

Following the announcement in 2014 of the innovation partnership between Airbus and         ORACLE TEAM USA, the project has moved from the design offices to the open seas. The first in-water tests were carried out successfully and the second phase is scheduled to begin soon at the new team base in Bermuda.

ORACLE TEAM USA is trialing new designs and systems on its AC45S boat, a testing platform for the technology the team will use in the 2017 America’s Cup.

The tests performed with the Airbus teams focused on hydraulic systems and aerodynamics. Airbus engineers supported ORACLE TEAM USA to develop, check and validate the new    hydraulic systems before moving into the next phase of development. For the aerodynamic tests, the objective was to see how Airbus’ instrumentation interacts with the boat and fits with ORACLE TEAM USA's overall test process.

ORACLE TEAM USA is now setting up its base at its new home in Bermuda and two Airbus engineers will soon join the team there. In parallel, the Airbus and ORACLE TEAM USA          designers will continue development work with the goal of producing the fastest America’s Cup Class boat for racing in 2017. 

Airbus became ORACLE TEAM USA’s Official Innovation Partner on 23rd October 2014. As part of this partnership, AIRBUS is sharing its expertise in fields such as aerodynamics, instrumentation, simulation, composites, structures, hydraulics and data analysis with ORACLE TEAM USA    design team.