Despite commanding home-court advantage in the ongoing 34th America’s Cup, the past two weeks haven’t been great for the Defender, Oracle Racing USA. The International Jury found the U.S.-flagged team guilty of having illegally doctored several of their AC45s and slapped the team with a (relatively) nominal fee ($250K), a two-win penalty and-likely the stiffest punishment-the expulsion/suspension of several team members, including their ace wingsail trimmer Dirk de Ridder.
Listen to Oracle skipper Jimmy Spithill at a press conference and you’d never know that there was a performance issue. Yet study Spithill’s on-the-water countenance and … More