James Spithill
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
James Spithill (born June 28, 1979) is an Australian yachtsman. He was born in Sydney.
After some junior match race titles, in 1998 he arrived third in the Sydney-Hobart and first in the Kenwood Cup.
He confirmed his ability by winning numerous races in the following years, including twice the Nations Cup (2003 and 2004), and obtaining a second place in the 2003 Match Race World Championship. In 2005 he was Match Race World Champion.
[edit] America's Cup
He debuted in the America's Cup in 2000 with Young Australia, showing his precocious talent despite leading an antiquated boat. At the age of 20, he was the youngest helmsman in the America's Cup.
In 2003 he led OneWorld in the America's Cup, reaching the Semi-final of the Louis Vuitton Cup, where he was beaten by Oracle BMW Racing.
Spithill was next chosen by Francesco De Angelis, whom he had beaten in the 2003 Louis Vuitton Quarter-finals, as his heir as helmsman of Luna Rossa Challenge in the 2007 America's Cup. Spitihill was a mainstay of the team, which he led to the final of the Louis Vuitton Cup 2007 after beating one of the favourites, Oracle BMW Racing, 5-1 in the semifinals.
He earned the nickname of "James Pitbull" among italian fans because of his aggressive tacticts during the pre-start phase of the races. He is the main protagonist of what is arguably remembered as the greatest pre-start in the history of the America's Cup, forcing two penalties to BMW Oracle skipper Chris Dickson in race 5 of the Louis Vuitton Cup 2007 causing Dickson's resignation a few days later.
Spithill went on to lose 5 - 0 to Emirates Team New Zealand in the 2007 Louis Vuitton Cup final.
