He might have been the skipper of the winning America’s Cup team last time but Spithill is extremely respectful about Oracle’s arch rival Team NZ – he even deems the Kiwi team as early favorite for the upcoming America’s Cup finale.
For the 1st time, a recent big-shot press conference had skippers of 6 America’s Cup squads together in London. There were 2013 challengers Artemis & Luna Rossa as well as 2 new squads- the French team led by Cammas (Franck) & Ben Ainslie led British team.
The Oracle skipper stressed that he is among the toughest of competitors but then remarked that it’s Team NZ which he believes to be his favorite challenger for the thirty-fourth session of America’s Cup.
“Honestly, you would probably vote for Team NZ here, considering time and history together- there is no shortcutting of the huge time that this prestigious squad has been competing together”, stated the Oracle captain, just before he went off on a holiday yacht chartering in Oban.
“But then one must look at the new teams as well- you can scan through every squad & list their stellar strengths.”
It was Team NZ captain Dean Barker who was sitting just next to the Oracle captain. Barker admitted that the disastrous wounds from 2013 America’s Cup are still there and raw. However, he noted that his team is in much better condition of late & is well prepped to contest the next season with full glory.
“Certainly it was extremely disappointing for us in 2013 at San Francisco. We took some time to look back & understand what actually happened. According to me, one thing we fast noted that the team is equipped with some really fantastic attributes & it was just by a minute amount that we failed to reach out to that extra step.”