James Spithill: Bring it on!! We are ready to race

James Spithill, Luna Rossa's helmsman, was very optimistic and confident when we talked to him on Sunday, when like dozens of sailors around Port America's Cup, he was closely examining all his competitors' boats. He and the rest of the crew are ready to race and their aim is of course to win the Louis Vuitton Cup although he sees a tough fight and no easy races.

Valencia Sailing: Since this is the "Unveiling" day my first question is an obvious one. What boat did you look at more carefully this morning? Did you see anything interesting or surprising?
James Spithill: I looked very closely at Team New Zealand, BMW Oracle and especially Alinghi. They are the team to beat and I was very interested in knowing what they had done. There were a few surprises. To be honest, I was a little surprised to see how different the fleet was. Obviously Alinghi wasn't showing all they were going to use, but still, it was interesting to see all the different ideas on hull shapes, volume distribution, sectional shapes and appendages.

Valencia Sailing: I suppose your primary goal is to win the Louis Vuitton Cup. Do you feel confident? Is it feasible?
James Spithill: Yes, this is our goal. I think it is feasible and it's up to us to do it. It is going to extremely tough though but it is up to us to go out there and do it. I think the boat is doing well with all the racing we have been doing so far, we keep developing it and keep taking the steps to get to the finals.

Valencia Sailing: How important is Louis Vuitton Act 13 for you?
James Spithill: If you look at the mathematics, I don't think it can change a lot. Whether we finish second or third or win the Act, honestly I don't think it will change a whole lot. We obviously want to win it because we are competitive, I want to win, Francesco wants to win. But we also enjoy it and it is a whole lot fun go do a fleet race and finish first. I really look forward to it and we have always done pretty well in fleet races.

Valencia Sailing: Concerning your performance in training, allow me to quote Ray Davies who stated in New Zealand's Sunday Star Times that they beat you 4-1 in training here in Valencia and it could have been 5-0 if they hadn't been interfered by some over zealous spectator boats. What is your comment?
James Spithill: It's great to see them being so confident. They are obviously the big favorites and listening to them if they don't win there must be something wrong.

Valencia Sailing: Allow me also to mention some rumors I heard saying that "ITA-94 really struggles upwind".
James Spithill: Who said that? Who are they? Anyone can say anything they want and you know how it works. We'll have to wait till we see how the boat goes. It's very difficult right now. Until we get to racing you don't know what your competitors are up to or if anyone is going at 100% next time they race.

Valencia Sailing: Regardless of these statements or rumors, do you feel confident with the new boat?
James Spithill: I do, I'm confident with the new boat we have produced. I think we still have work and development to do but we are confident and ready to race.

Valencia Sailing: Should we give importance to the results of these training races?
James Spithill: I don't think so because they don't count for anything. At the end of the day it's up to who wins the official races and the Louis Vuitton Cup. You obviously want to win every race but they can win all the training races they want as long as we win the ones that count.

Valencia Sailing: Of course, but you don't go out to on a training day against Dean Barker with the spirit to lose.
James Spithill: Never. We are all very competitive, we all want to win and to be honest with you, these guys sailed extremely well the days we raced them. If you look at all the betting agencies, they are the favorites and I think they have the right to be the favorites. They were the top team in the Acts, they are the top challenger and they have done a very good job. I have a lot of respect for them but going into the races I'm happy for them to be the favorites.

Valencia Sailing: On Friday they also raced against Alinghi. Is that something Luna Rossa would consider doing?
James Spithill: We have raced them a lot of times and we will do so in a couple of days in fleet races. But as far as a training race is concerned before the Louis Vuitton Cup, who knows? We have done it in the past. As you know, we did it last year when we raced in training but this time we'll have to see. You know, the hard thing for all challengers right now is to find time. There is very, very little time in your schedule. You have to keep developing and testing different things that you have. Obviously we like to do training but it's very difficult because time is so short. It's very hard to manage with the weather and the schedule you have.

Valencia Sailing: You will keep developing ITA-94 from what I understand.
James Spithill: Absolutely, if we don't do that then it's over. Having someone like Tom Schnakenberg has really reinforced the crew. We have been pushing hard the development, making the boat fast.

Valencia Sailing: Alinghi has proposed to increase the length of the race course for the America's Cup match. Are you in favor it?
James Spithill: I think that for the spectators a short race course is better. As far as the sport is concerned, in order to attract fans and people to watch from outside, I think a shorter course is better. It's more exciting and more suited for someone that doesn't know a lot about sailing and a longer course might appear monotonous. For me it doesn't matter either way but for the general public and the event a shorter course might have meant more action, which is obviously good.

Valencia Sailing: From what you have seen so far which one of the other top challengers (Emirates Team New Zealand and BMW Oracle) do you fear the most in the Louis Vuitton Cup?
James Spithill: Both of them but, I know it's going to sound funny, it could be some of the other teams. I think they have taken a big step and there will not be any easy races. It's hard to say but initially I would say Oracle and Team New Zealand. We have a similar history, with a similar number of America's Cup campaigns, 3 for Prada, 3-4 for the others, we have similar resources, similar funding. But when I look at the other teams now, they are up to the level where they could win any race. As I said, there won't be any races and you really have to be on your game.

Valencia Sailing: Have you raced any of the smaller teams in training?
James Spithill: We have and it has been extremely tough and racing was very close. This is exactly what I had thought would have happened. During the last year they leaped ahead and got up to the level.

Valencia Sailing: Has the gap between the bigger and smaller teams gotten smaller performance wise?
James Spithill: I think so. You certainly can't make any mistakes.

Valencia Sailing: Have you decided what boat you are going to race?
James Spithill: No, not yet. Like most of the teams we are trying to look at the weather, whether wind is going to be light. As you know, these past weeks the weather has been a little bit strange. We haven't fully decided which boat to use yet.

Valencia Sailing: On Saturday you trained against Mascalzone Capitalia and Victory Challenge. Was there any particular reason you trained one day before unveiling while almost all other teams took the day off?
James Spithill: No, there was no special reason. We will also train on Monday. As I told you, time is really short. You can't buy time and we are using every single chance we have to make the boat get fast. The whole crew is working extremely hard to do that.

Valencia Sailing: If we have this kind of wind is it going to be tricky?
James Spithill: I think so. Whenever you get the westerly wind it's very tough because it gets very shifty. Still, it could make fleet racing very interesting if we had that. It will be excellent.

Valencia Sailing: Is there anything you would like to add?
James Spithill: Yes. Bring it on!! We are ready to race