STARS & STRIPES (US-1) yacht

[aukepalmhof]

STARS AND STRIPES: Catamaran yacht, hull was built by RD Boatworks at Capistrano Beach, California while the wings were built by Scaled Composites Inc., Mojave, California. She was owned by the Sail America Foundation, Inc.
Sail No US-1.
04 June 1988 christened at San Diego by Gloria Deukmejian, wife of the Governor of California, with a bottle made of brakaway glass, containing flat champagne with drops of diswashing soap, so not to damage the boat.
The hull was made of Carbon fiber-Nomex sandwich.
Masts: Carbon fiber-Nomex sandwich.
Wing sail: Carbon fiber, covered by Mylar and Dacron.
Displacement 3 tons. Dim 18.28 x 8.88 x 3.04m (draught)
Wing area: 167.40 m² (upwind)
Total sail and wing area downwind 405 m².
Crew 5-7.
Completed 1988 with homeport San Diego.

Took part as defender in the America Cup races off San Diego, California, where she raced against the 90 foot mono-hull challenger NEW ZEALAND KZ1 on 7 and 9 September 1988.

Both races were won by STARS AND STRIPES the first race she beat the Kiwis by 18 minutes and 15 seconds. The second race by 21 minutes and 10 seconds.
Due to the challenge being made outside a defined sailboat class, Conner enlisted the help of designers Morrelli, Chance & Hubbart & MacLane, and aircraft manufacturer Scaled Composites, to fabricate a revolutionary catamaran, STARS & STRIPES (US-1), which dominated over KZ 1, the challenger from New Zealand. The New Zealand team sued and initially won the America's Cup trophy in a court case; however the decision was reversed on appeal, and the San Diego Yacht Club retained the Cup.
The surprise challenge by Sir Michael Fay caught the San Diego Yacht Club unprepared. They initially rejected the challenge, but were compelled to respond when Mr. Fay brought the matter before the New York courts. The court's decision was handed down in November 1987, leaving little time to prepare for the 1988 challenge race.
As the challenge used the original Deed of Gift as its basis, the design requirements specified only that she be a single masted yacht no more than 90 feet at the waterline. The San Diego Yacht Club and Dennis Conner's syndicate chose to respond with an assuredly faster multi-hull design. Two STARS & STRIPES cats were built, one with a conventional soft sail (STARS AND STRIPES S1), and the second with a wing mast (STARS & STRIPES H3) built by Scaled Composites. The wing masted boat proved to have superior performance so it was used in the defense.
After the 1988 America's Cup, the wing masted boat was bought by Mexican yachtsman Victor Tapia and sails in Mexico. The soft sail yacht was bought by Steve Fossett and used to set speed records in various yacht races.
1989 Sold to the Mexican Victor Tapia.
1992 She was taken to San Diego for the 1992 America’s Cup Challenge where she was used as a charter boat. Also she was used for racing in California.
2002 Was an attraction for a deluxe hotel in Mexico, the Menson del Viento, her homeport was then Valle de Brave, Mexico.
2004 Was she still there but it appears as for sale.
2011 Can not find any trace of her.

Central African Republic 1989 300fr. sg1342, scott917, 759fr sgMS, scott920.
Comoro Islands 1989 750fr sg694, scott416.
Grenada of Grenadines 1992 $5 sg1585, scott1482.

Source: Wikipedia. http://32nd.americascup.com/en/acclopae ... ntent=5171