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“The big Herreshoff boats were essentially disposable boats,” Hill said. “They were made of mixed metals and people think they didn’t realize that they would create electrolysis and fall apart, but they knew at the time but didn’t care. They were building disposable boats to win a particular series of races, and that was it.”

That sounds familiar to those who followed the 2010 Cup, and it bears remembering that USA-17 almost did not go sailing in Valencia at all.

An unexpected storm before the start of racing caught the trimaran in the harbor with its huge wing sail still in place and forced the shore and sailing crews to scramble and hope they could avoid losing control.

The yacht and its wing survived, although there was no shortage of other mechanical concerns in the lead-up to the regatta.

“I can tell you right now that two days before the first race with Alinghi we were not able to tack,” said Max Sirena, who was part of USA-17’s crew and is now skipper for the Italian team Luna Rossa Challenge. “For me it was the most stressful Cup ever, but in the end, we had a magic week, we didn’t break a single piece of the boat and there is something in the air when that happens. Everything was magic, and we were paid back for all the effort we put into that campaign.”

Much more than effort was involved. Some in Alinghi’s camp have estimated that Ellison, Oracle’s co-founder and billionaire chief executive, spent close to $400 million on the 2010 America’s Cup campaign. That figure, which Ellison has not confirmed, would have included legal fees, team wages, boat building and transport costs and everything else associated with the nearly three-year cycle.

But even if USA-17 raced just twice and cost an estimated $40 million to build, some of the technological breakthroughs clearly have been carried forward, with Oracle choosing to defend the Cup in San Francisco in smaller but still powerful 72-foot, wing-sailed catamarans.