Oracle Team USA, holders of the prestigious “Auld Mug”, the oldest trophy in international sport, christened their new wing sail foiling AC45 catamaran in San Francisco Bay this week.

The team staff described the first trial, in which the modified AC45 got up on its foils in 8 to 10 knots of breeze, as encouraging.

“Today was a success,” Tom Slingsby, Oracle’s sailing team manager and tactician, said.

“The boat is very complicated and getting it on the water has been a huge achievement, just to have all the systems working.

“But the first bear-away we were up on the foils and sailing very stable, so it was definitely a very good day. We ticked a lot of boxes.”

Echoing Slingsby’s sentiments, Jimmy Spithill, Oracle’s skipper, added: “It was very, very good for a first day. It felt great.”

Slingsby said that sailing in the team’s new foiling AC45 evoked memories of Oracle’s stunning comeback victory against challenger Emirates Team New Zealand at the previous America’s Cup Match in San Francisco in September 2013.

“We did mention that the last time we were towing around the city front was after the last race of the America’s Cup, so it was nice to be back out there,” he said.

Spithill, the ISAF 2014 Sailor of the Year, added: “It almost felt a little bit like the AC72 in that we’re all in cockpits and with the speeds. We’re going to need to see it in more breeze, but it was great to get it foiling and stable.”

Oracle will continue training and testing on the foiling AC45 for the rest of the month before packing up operations in San Francisco and moving to their new headquarters in Bermuda.

Oracle’s Bermuda base will take up about 7.2 acres on the northern side of the South Basin dock at the Royal Naval Dockyard. Included on the site will be four new buildings to house boats and sails, two tents, seven containers, a 160-foot crane, an ancillary building to house fibre optic infrastructure, and two floating docks.

America’s Cup legend Sir Russell Coutts, the Oracle Team USA CEO, said that the plan is to have the team stationed at their headquarters in Dockyard by the end of May.

“There has been more progress than what I expected, which is a good thing,” he said. “I certainly have no doubt that the Island will get the facilities ready on time, and even over-deliver in terms of having these facilities available at an early stage.”

Oracle’s base in Dockyard will be flanked by two other team bases — Sweden’s Artemis Racing and another team yet to be disclosed. Artemis Racing are also expected to be stationed in Bermuda by the end of May.

“Artemis should be here by the end of May, which will mean that there will be two full teams operating out of Bermuda,” Coutts said. “I have been impressed with the work that has been done, but it’s the start of the process.”