James Spithill was born in 1979 in Sydney. Starting with a gold medal in the Kenwood Cup in 1998, he won numerous races in the following years, including twice the Nations Cup. He was Match Race World Champion in 2005, and second in 2003. As skipper and helmsman for BMW Oracle Racing in 2010, Spithill became the youngest ever winner of the America’s Cup. He has earned the nickname of ‘James Pitbull’ among Italian fans because of his aggressive tactics during the pre-start phase of the races: in one memorable occasion, he forced this way two penalties to BMW Oracle skipper Chris Dickson in the 2007 Louis Vuitton Cup, leading him to resign after a few days.
