Luna Rossa skipper James Spithill out to break Team New Zealand hearts again

That defence saw Oracle Team USA remarkably come back from a −2 penalty score at the start to win 9–8 on the final race.

After Emirates Team New Zealand finally got up against the Americans and Spithill to claim the Auld Mug in 2017, the Aussie sailor was lured to the rising Italian challengers, and after taking the boat through the preliminary series last month, Spithill is back in the main show. Against Team New Zealand, again.

Italy’s Luna Rossa, right, and Team New Zealand at the start of race two on Wednesday.Credit:PHOTOSPORT

Spithil’s career has been fuelled by self-belief, discipline, dedication and a truly dogged approach to grasping any cup, and most especially this one.

“Getting a shot against the best in the world is what you live for,” Spithill says.

“My message to all the young sailors is that if you want to compete in the America’s Cup, you can. Like anything rewarding, it won’t be easy, will take a lot of work, there are no shortcuts, and along the way people may say you won’t make it.”

Ashby, the holder of an incredible 17 world championships, is described by AC legend John Bertrand as a genius who lives, breaths and eats high performance sailboats.

Thanks to the rapid advancement in technology, these boats are now standing up in the water taller than ever and looks more like an air race this year rather than one contested in the water. Credit:The America’s Cup

“Glenn has shown extraordinary capacity to continually think outside the box,” Bertrand says.

“This shows up in his added value within ETNZ. That beautiful Kiwi AC mainsail appears to me as another Ashby A-Class designed sail… beautiful twist profile and depth distribution.”

“He is held in such high esteem as a team member that he is the captain of ETNZ! To put it in context, this is the same as an Australian being Captain of the All Blacks…incredible!”

Both sailors came from great Australian sailing families. Spithill’s drips with world championships. For the Ashby clan, sailing has provided additional dimensions of pleasure on many levels.

“Success in our sport and life is not always measured by regatta wins,” says Ashby.

“It is far greater than that. In life, and in sailing, the internal fire and hunger needs to be self-driven, and these are essential for getting better and faster. We all aspire to have that feeling of satisfaction within.

“As long as it’s fun, every time on the water is special, and great life lessons are learned, even if we don’t realise them at the time.”

For two of our greatest sailors, some more great life lessons are about to be learned over the coming days in the America’s Cup.