The 33rd Americas Cup is now underway in Valencia, Spain. The race is between just two teams, defender Alinghi and BMW Oracle Racing. The 2010 America’s Cup has been one of the most controversial to date. Following several months of litigation, both teams agreed to a one-on-one Deed of Gift match. The boats, named Alinghi 5 and USA 17, are 90 ft. sailing multi-hulls. We’ve written here before about the benefits of multi-hulls, and this race is proving us right in the extreme. These vessels are capable of going “faster than the wind.” Power boats carrying film crews and race officials are having a hard time keeping up.

The first two days of scheduled racing were postponed due to rough wind and wave conditions. The first race was held today and the winning team was BMW Oracle Racing. The next race in this “first to two” competition will be Sunday, Feb. 14. See Race 1 in this YouTube video: