Tom Slingsby will be taking over the role of the skipper for the Oracle Team USA when they take to the waters at the Louis Vuitton America’s Cup World Series in Toulon. The regular helmsman of the Oracle team Jimmy Spithill is suffering from the after effects of the surgery he had on his elbow and therefore cannot take part in the event. He does not want to risk another injury and therefore has decided to pass on the skipper’s baton to Olympic gold medalist Tom Slingsby.
The tactician Slingsby will find the going tough helming the Oracle team as he has not got any practice session with the team and sailing the AC45F catamarans before this weekend’s big event. The start is one of the most critical parts of the race and Slingsby will have to be on his toes to get the perfect start. He acknowledged that it was going to be a tough after having just a couple of few short practice sessions and two Scotland yacht charters. You should have the right feel of when you need to pull the trigger and he says that it needs practice to master the pull.
Slingsby is happy that Coach Philippe Presti is offering great advice during the de-briefing every day and he is making sure that the Oracle team is improving. He is pretty sure that he would be stretched to the limit by the team for the race and he is ready for it.
Spithill said that relying on one person for a team sport will spell doomsday for any team. He feels that there is depth and blacken in the side for every position and that the guys will get the job done for the team during the weekend. There is sun and lighter winds forecast for the weekend in Toulon.