Ready, Set, Sail: America’s Cup Back in Rhode Island
An America’s Cup sailing event is being held to Newport, R.I., for the first time in 29 years. Sailors began arriving in Newport last week for the final leg of the America’s Cup World Series regatta, which has been held at stops all across the world to gin up excitement for the official America’s Cup next year in San Francisco.
No longer the sleepy, tactical event of old, the race now features a revolutionary new boat — the AC45 catamaran, made of carbon fiber and powered by a giant vertical wing. The high-tech boats are smaller versions of the vessels that sailors will be skippering in next year’s big race.
“The boats are relentless,” says Australian sailor James Spithill, who races for Oracle Team USA. “They are the most physical thing we’ve ever sailed and the most exciting thing we’ve ever sailed, and then probably the most demanding.”
Spithill, also known as “James Pitbull,” was a childhood boxer from Australia who left the ring for the sea. The youngest man ever to win the America’s Cup, Spithill arrived in Newport skippering a class boat that’s reinventing the game.