ANACORTES — BMW ORACLE Racing confirmed today that the 90-foot carbon fiber trimaran under construction in Anacortes is nearly ready to launch.

The boat is being built for the next America’s Cup sailing regatta. However ongoing litigation between the US-based BMW ORACLE Racing team and the Swiss team Alinghi has called into question just when or where the next America’s Cup will be and whether the regatta will be sailed in multihulls, as BMW ORACLE has planned for, or in more traditional monohull yachts.

The U.S. team’s announcement today marked was its first public acknowledgment that the boat is indeed a trimaran, rather than a catamaran. And the removal of one side of the tent in which the trimaran is housed gave the world its first glimpse of what has been hailed as potentially the most expensive and most advanced racing yacht ever built.

Team spokeswoman Jane Eagleson was mum on the actual launch date, but she did confirm that the mast will soon be attached and the boat will be “splashed” in Anacortes. Speaking by phone from Anacortes, she also said that BMW ORACLE Racing CEO and skipper Russell Coutts will arrive in Anacortes soon and a majority of the roughly 25-member sailing team will also fly in next week.

Coutts, a New Zealander, has won three America’s Cups as skipper as well as various world championships and a gold medal in the 1984 Olympics.

Eagleson said members of the International sailing media will also be invited to Anacortes to cover the eventual launch, but that no large public celebration will be held, as has been rumored.

• Elliott Wilson can be reached at 360-416-2147 or at