BMW Oracle Racing is beginning a two week training session in Lorient aboard the 60 foot trimaran Groupama 2.

With the agrement of Groupama, Franck Cammas, the skipper of Groupama 2, has been enlisted by the BMW Oracle Racing team as consultant for the bulk of the America's Cup campaign in multihulls.

Among the pit members enlisted this week in Lorient are Russell Coutts (NZL), John Kostecki (USA) and James Spithill (AUS). Moreover, some familiar members of Franck Cammas' crew will complete the crew, such as Thierry Fouchier (FRA) and Bruno Laurent (FRA).

"We are delighted to be able to sail aboard these great multihulls. It's going to be a real challenge for us and it's very exciting", stated tactician John Kostecki. "We began our multihull training on the Extreme 40 in Valencia. This training session is another step towards the large multihulls, on which we're going to contend the America's Cup".

"These yachts are very different from those on which we usually sail, so our learning curve is going to be very steep. We're really lucky to be able to sail with Franck and to benefit from his experience, as well as that of his team."

During the second week of training, the team will race against another 60 foot multihull and thus amass experience on these high performance multihulls.