BermudaSailing AdventuresUSA

James Spithill masters huge waves to foil from New York to Bermuda

James Spithill has revealed the extraordinary lengths him and his crew went through to sail their โ€œF4โ€ Team Falcon catamaran over 1,065km of open ocean.

The ORACLE Team USA skipper had to wait patiently for the green light with the ocean quest postponed several times by a hurricane and gale force winds. The weather relented on November 5 so Spithill and his team of Shannon Falcone, who dreamt up the challenge, Rome Kirby, Tommy Loughborough, Cy Thompson and Bermudaโ€™s own Emily Nagel could set out from New York.

Matt Knighton / Red Bull Content Pool
Matt Knighton / Red Bull Content Pool

Unfortunately for them, the conditions soon turned nasty and they had to fight tooth and nail to combat massive 25 foot waves and phenomenal 35-knot winds. Luckily the eight months spent engineering the first ever 46-foot hydro-foiling catamaran ensured that they could hover a few feet over the dangerous swells.

They eventually managed to complete the journey from New York, the first U.S. city to host the Americaโ€™s Cup in 1870, to Bermuda, where the 35th Americaโ€™s Cup will be held in the summer of 2017, in 66 hours.

Australian Spithill revealed, โ€œWe went from pushing the boat for performance into survival mode. These were the biggest waves Iโ€™ve faced in a multi-hull and hopefully donโ€™t ever have to experience again! At night we didnโ€™t have a moon. Some of the waves were breaking, which made it very challenging and extremely dangerous, and we had a few close calls.

โ€œWhen the stress and fatigue levels climb so high and you need to make the right calls as a skipper, that is when you push yourself and your development”.

โ€œI love taking on Mother Nature. You have to be ready for anything. Mother Nature can turn and, when she does, it can be awesome as well as terrifying.โ€

Matt Knighton / Red Bull Content Pool
Matt Knighton / Red Bull Content Pool

Falcone added, โ€œIn 72 hours, we experienced more than a lot of sailors experience in their whole career. I was so impressed with Emily, and the entire team bonded because of the challenges and adversities.โ€

Finally Nagel declared, โ€œI couldn’t quite believe I was on a boat with the ORACLE Team USA guys and Shannon. The learning curve with that kind of experience is just incredible.โ€

Thanks to RedBull Content Pool for all editorial contents.

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