Two time America's Cup winning skipper, Jimmy Spithill, has joined the Italian Luna Rossa team.
This was a serious Jimmy Spithill, not the jolly winder-up of "kiwi media" from the Challenger qualifier series. Photo: Photosport
The Australian returns to Luna Rossa after he was their helmsman in Valencia in 2007.
He won the Cup twice with Oracle in 2010 and 2013 and then lost it to Team New Zealand last year.
The Italians said in a statement "with his huge sports and technical experience on high-performance sailing boats, Jimmy brings additional strength to team Luna Rossa."
"Personally I've had a lot of success racing and competing in Italy, and lifestyle and especially the food are awesome. I love the Italian culture, the landscape and the people. I have to admit, though, that I will need to work on my Italian."
The 2021 America's Cup will be raced in fully foiling 75-foot monohull boats that will represent a massive challenge, according to Spithill.
"The boat is going to be a beast," he said in an interview on Red Bull Content Pool. "It reminds me of America's Cup 34 and the AC72 foiling catamarans. Nothing like this had been done before, and this boat is on the cutting edge of technology.
"There are a lot of unknowns with the AC75, which will push people to the limit and really challenge all the teams involved. However, this challenge and difficulty is really appealing, and I'm really excited to be back in the game."
Luna Rossa are the challenger of record for the 36th America's Cup in Auckland in 2021.
- Luna Rossa
