Oracle Team USA: Defending the Red, White, and Blue

America’s Cup defender Oracle Team USA may not have yet won any of the four America’s Cup World Series (ACWS) events, but they haven’t been out of the hunt either. Only Oracle Team USA and Emirates Team New Zealand have stood on the podium at each event thus far.

When the ACWS concludes, the final results will impact the America’s Cup Qualifiers (May 2017), the next stage of competition that will be sailed in the AC Class – the 15-meter boat to be used in America’s Cup. Oracle gets to compete in that stage, so their results in the ACWS may impact which challenger they ultimately face in the America’s Cup Match.

So who is Oracle Team USA?

“We’ll be rotating our guys throughout the season to try and get better experience,” said skipper Jimmy Spithill, whose team represents Golden Gate Yacht Club in San Francisco. “There’s only five that can go racing (on the AC45 used in ACWS), and from a racing point of view, if you stick to one team the entire season, that team would probably get the better results long-term over the season. But for us, we have two goals, we obviously want to compete in the World Series, but we also have to do some rotation, and that’s exactly what we’re going to do going forward. So that’s really how we approach it.”

The AC Class will be sailed with six crew, and like the AC45, at least one of the crew must be a national* of the team’s club. With possibly six more ACWS events remaining, here has been the Oracle Team USA crew through the first four events…

PORTSMOUTH – 2015: Jimmy Spithill (AUS), skipper/helmsman; Tom Slingsby (AUS), tactician; Kyle Langford (AUS) wing trimmer; Kinley Fowler (NZL), trimmer; Louis Sinclair (ANT), bow

GOTHENBERG – 2015: Jimmy Spithill (AUS), skipper/helmsman; Tom Slingsby (AUS), tactician; Kyle Langford (AUS), wing trimmer; Joey Newton (AUS), trimmer; Louis Sinclair (ANT), bow.

BERMUDA – 2015: Jimmy Spithill (AUS), skipper/helmsman; Tom Slingsby (AUS), tactician; Kyle Langford (AUS), wing trimmer; Joey Newton (AUS), trimmer; Louis Sinclair (ANT), bow.

OMAN – 2016: Jimmy Spithill (AUS) skipper/helmsman; Tom Slingsby (AUS), tactician; Kyle Langford (AUS), wing trimmer; Kinley Fowler (NZL), trimmer; Sam Newton (AUS), bow.

* Oracle is meeting the rule requirement with crew holding multiple passports.

For a full list of the Oracle Team USA crew … click here.

Coach Philippe Presti (left) working with the team in Oman.