Billionaire a perfect match for Spithill

by D.D McNicol on 27 Oct 2005 The success of young Sydney sailor James Spithill in the prestigious King Edward VII Gold Cup match racing series in Bermuda last weekend should -- but probably won't -- prompt some Australian billionaire to have another tilt at the America's Cup.

Spithill, 26, was at the helm of Syd Fischer's Young Australia in Auckland in 2000 when Australia last took part in yachting's top event. Then his aggressive starting tactics terrified most of his more seasoned opponents but the under funded challenge went nowhere.

On Sunday Spithill, who this year won the World match racing championship, had to win the final two races in the Gold Cup to defeat the title-holder, Russell Coutts of New Zealand.

Coutts, who has won the Gold Cup seven times, is the man who won the America's Cup for the Kiwis, successfully defended it and then broke his country's heart by swapping allegiances and winning it for the Swiss.

Some though Spithill would fold under the pressure of Sunday's final two races but the young man who learnt to sail in skiffs on Sydney's Pittwater thrashed his opponent.

With no Australian syndicate taking part in the 2007 America's Cup in Spain, Spithill and his fellow Australian gun sailors have had to find other employers. Spithill is helmsman for the Luna Rossa Italian America's Cup challenge, which also includes fellow Australian Joe Newton who was in his Gold Cup crew. There are more than a dozen young Australian sailors among the crews in the Swiss defending syndicate, Alinghi, and 11 challenging syndicates.

Under the rules of the America's Cup it is too late for an Australian syndicate to challenge in 2007, but the one after is likely to be sailed in 2010. The best estimate for the cost of an America's Cup challenge today is about $100 million -- so it is not a cheap undertaking. But with sponsorship and guaranteed worldwide television, print and internet coverage, it is not out of the question.

Australia's first tilt at the America's Cup was funded by the late Sydney media tycoon Frank Packer. He had a couple of goes before being joined by a syndicate of Melbourne businessmen.

A brash young West Australian called Alan Bond then tossed his hat in the ring and had several unsuccessful bids before shocking the stuffy New York Yacht Club in 1983 by removing the silverware it had guarded for 132 years.

The big problem today is that local billionaires such as Kerry Packer (Frank's son) and Westfield chief Frank Lowy are not keen sailors.

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