Jaunty Jimmy has the wind in his sails, again
Put yourself in Jimmy Spithill’s shoes. It’s September 2013, and as skipper of Oracle Team USA, you’ve just come back from 8-1 down to beat Team New Zealand and retain the America’s Cup.
You’ve seen off Grant Dalton, Dean Barker and co, despite them being way ahead of you for most of the campaign, and you’ve done it in humiliating fashion.
You’ve beat them so badly that you wonder if that might be the end of them. Given they’ve led the way in innovation for two decades and counting, you wouldn’t mind it, but it doesn’t eventuate.
Fast forward four years, to the Great Sound in Bermuda, home of the 35th America’s Cup.
You’ve entered the first stage of the challenger series, even though you’re the defender. That is a bit odd, but if you just keep talking, no one will kick up too much of a fuss.
You win it as well, gaining an advantage for the Cup match and showing Team NZ’S rookie helmsman, Peter Burling, how it’s done. You show him how to play the media as well, telling the world he’s made some ‘‘fundamental mistakes’’.
Then you sit back and watch, as the remaining challengers are whittled down.
First it’s your old mate Ben Ainslie, beaten by that Burling kid. Next it’s Barker and Team Japan, after giving up a 3-1 lead – some things never change. Then it’s Artemis Racing, the only team to beat you in the round robin, which is a relief.
So it’s the Kiwis, but while they’ve been racing – capsizing, losing starts, and putting in a mixed bag of performances – you’ve been working on your boat all night, and getting plenty of practice in during the day.
Remember that advantage you got for winning the qualifiers? Turns out it actually means Team NZ will start down a point, and need to win eight races to your seven. It’s a bit odd that they get punished for your success, but you don’t make the rules.
You’re inside the heads of four million New Zealanders, who are lapping up your every word. They’re terrified, after what you pulled in 2013, and some are even wondering if you have a whole other boat hidden away somewhere.
There are times where you wonder if it’s the Kiwis who might be hiding something, but you don’t dwell on that for long.
You have a spy inside their team, and he hasn’t heard anything. Or was that just something you made up for a laugh? You don’t remember, but it doesn’t matter.
You’ve got their number, and even if they come out of the blocks all guns blazing, you’ve got one final card to play – a five-day break between races four and five that gives you a chance to catch up.
You couldn’t lose from here, could you?