In an interview with an Italian newspaper, former Oracle Team USA skipper Jimmy Spithill claimed Team New Zealand used a “mysterious device” that aided the Kiwis in their 2017 America’s Cup victory over the Americans.
The New Zealand Herald called it a “startling claim,” and stated that Spithill used mind games to get into the head of Team New Zealand skipper Dean Barker in 2013 and “looks to be at it again.”
Stuff.co.nz wrote that Spithill took “a cheeky crack” at Team New Zealand’s America’s Cup victory in Bermuda.
In 2013, Oracle Team USA launched an incredible comeback to defeat Team New Zealand, 9-8, after being down 8-1 in San Francisco. Four years later in Bermuda, Team New Zealand defeated Oracle, 7-1.
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Asked about unsubstantiated speculation about Oracle using an illegal electronic device in its amazing comeback, Spithill told La Stampa, “We simply learned to sail the catamaran up on the foils even upwind. Both us and the Kiwis had tried this technique before the match to no avail. On 1-8, we realized that we were slower than them and that without upwind foiling we would have lost.
“Ironically, in the last edition of the Cup in Bermuda, Team New Zealand had a mysterious device that helped the crew control foiling.”
Spithill said the international media had ignored that.
Team New Zealand had a boat with superior speed based on their use of cyclors to provide the power for the wing and foil adjustments.
Skipper Glenn Ashby used a handheld device rather than ropes to control the wing sail in his role as trimmer, some likening it to an Xbox gaming console. Blair Tuke had controls built into the handlebars of his cycle station to operate the foils.
Team New Zealand’s revolutionary boat passed the measurement examinations of Cup officials.
Spithill, an Australian who now sails for Italian syndicate Luna Rossa, told La Stampa he is dreaming “of winning the Cup again” in 2021.
“I’m not going to lie to you, I want payback and revenge. That’s a big part of it,” Spithill told RedBull.com last year, according to the Herald. “I love competition and they’re the best out there right now. For me, this is another opportunity to go against the best.”
