Jimmy Spithill hasn’t lost his competitive edge just because he’s come ashore after a remarkable quarter-century sailing career.
That’s hardly surprising to anyone who followed Spithill’s career through eight America’s Cup campaigns, including two victories with Oracle Team USA; his two-plus seasons as a helmsman in SailGP; and in numerous other events like the Sydney to Hobart race.
Spithill pulled a shock move right away in his role as CEO of Red Bull Italy, the newest team in the global league co-founded by Russell Coutts and Larry Ellison. Before the Italian-based crew had splashed its F-50 catamaran, Spithill had poached wing trimmer Kyle Langford from Tom Slingsby’s Australian team, which won SailGP’s first three season championships. It was the biggest move in the busiest transfer season yet in SailGP, which is three regattas into its fifth season.
It was classic Spithill. Slingsby responded by calling for more rules around the sudden influx of transfers and revealing that Spithill has approached “many more” Aussie sailors.
Spithill chuckled when asked about landing Langford, his former mate with Oracle.
