Jimmy Spithill to break 20-year Aussie drought with fill-in SailGP gig after team switch

Jimmy Spithill will represent Australia first the first time in more than 20 years when he fills in for the Aussie SailGP team this weekend.

Australian sailing legend Jimmy Spithill will represent the green and gold for the first time in 20 years this weekend at the SailGP event in Dubai.

Spithill had been the driver of the United States SailGP team until the outfit was sold last week in a bumper deal to a consortium of investors including Uber founder Ryan McKillen and boxer Deontay Wilder.

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The privatisation of the US team is a landmark moment for SailGP, and Spithill will head up a new Italian team that will join the league next year for its fifth season.

But in the meantime, Spithill will fill in for Tom Slingsby as Australia’s driver in Dubai as Slingsby stays at home to be with his wife Helena for the birth of their first child.

Australia have won the first three editions of SailGP and sit on top of the table after five events, but are yet to win an event this season.

“I’m excited,” Spithill told news.com.au.

“I thought the Spanish event was going to be my last event so it was a pleasant surprise to get the opportunity to get out and race again.

“These guys have been the benchmark team since SailGP started and I know a lot of them. It’s going to be a lot of fun linking up with them and getting out there and racing.

“This team’s made every final this season but not had a win. I’ve made the last two finals and won the last event with a different team.

“We’re both equally motivated, the team and I.

“The biggest challenge is that each team runs its own playbook and does it a little bit differently.

Jimmy Spithill is filling in with team Australia this weekend. (Photo by Yong Teck Lim/Getty Images)

“Having done through the Australian playbook, there are a bunch of manoeuvres that are quite different. That’ll be the biggest challenge for me — in high pressure situations not reverting back to what I’ve been trained to do when racing on the American team.”

Asked if he can remember the last time he represented Australia, Spithill said: “Man, I think it would have been about 20 odd years ago.

“I went straight to match racing and America’s Cup pretty early on. I skippered my first campaign when I was 19 or 20, which was an Australian campaign in 1999 so the 2000 Cup. I would imagine that’s probably the last time.”

Spithill has been replaced at the US team is Taylor Canfield, with the new owners keen to have an entirely American crew.

The desire to have a home grown team is growing across SailGP, although there are several talented Aussies and Kiwis scattered across the teams.

“I think we’re starting to see that,” Spithill said.

“If you can get the majority, that’s fantastic and we’re starting to see that. The European countries especially have done an incredible job with their next generation of athletes that are coming through in high performance sailing and foiling.

“Clearly, Australia, New Zealand and the British have always been very strong but my experience in the US, in terms of foiling and high performance sailing, they’re just starting to get to grips with that and introduce that in the junior clubs and sailing clubs throughout the States.

“It’s a mix. You definitely want athletes from the nationality you’re representing but at the same time you also want to make sure you’ve got the best in the world out there.”

Tom Slingsby is sitting out the SailGP event in Dubai. Photo: Getty.

Spithill will head up a new Italian team that will join SailGP next year in season five as the fleet continues to grow following the introduction of a German team.

“Now I have a great opportunity with Italy to apply what I learnt there (at the US team),” he said.

“It’s a market I know very well, having competed at the last America’s Cup for Italy and currently competing for Luna Rossa.

“It’s an amazing country, the fans are as passionate and loyal as they come, and they’ve done an incredible job in terms of talent coming through. I think the Italian team will be an awesome addition to SailGP.”

The two-time America’s Cup winner is representing Italy’s Luna Rossa team at next year’s event, while Slingsby will be on board the American Magic boat.

The challengers will battle it out to be the ones to take on defending champions New Zealand in the final next October.

Australia famously broke the United States’ stranglehold on the America’s Cup in 1983 but there hasn’t been an Aussie team in the final match race series since 1987.

Spithill said it’s difficult to say if or when there will be another Australian team in the America’s Cup, with significant financial backing required to fund a campaign.

“You really need someone that’s passionate about the sport,” he said.

Jimmy Spithill will skipper Australia in a one-off. Photo: Bob Martin.

“It’s challenging because America’s Cup and SailGP are very different.

“America’s Cup there’s no regular season. It’s got such a unique set of rules that the team that wins gets to write the rules and decided everything pretty much. That makes it challenging and fascinating.

“The America’s Cup is typically every four years and even then you don’t know when the next one is, you don’t know what boat.

“It’s difficult to plan. Never say never, but it’s one of those questions that’s pretty hard to answer on whether there’ll be an Australian team in the future.”

Watch SailGP Dubai on Kayo Sports on Saturday and Sunday at 9am AEDT.

Get all the inside info on the sale of the United States SailGP team in the latest episode of the Racing On The Edge documentary on Fox Sports and Kayo.