It';s back to the future for Australia's Jimmy Spithill as he joins Italian syndicate Luna Rossa from Oracle Team USA for the 2021 America's Cup in Auckland.

Jimmy Spithill appears to have taken a major pay cut to stay in the America's Cup game.

The controversial Australian skipper who won two Cups with American syndicate Oracle Team USA has joined Italian challenger of record Luna Rossa for the 2021 regatta in Auckland.

Spithill was skipper and very much the face and voice of Oracle, especially during their two heated America's Cup matches with Emirates Team New Zealand who exacted revenge in Bermuda last year for their 2013 disappointment in San Francisco.

GETTY IMAGES Patrizio Bertelli, left, the president of the Luna Rossa America's Cup challenge is flanked by New Zealand yachting personality Peter Lester.

Spithill has had a low-key start to his time with Luna Rossa and that may continue as they work their way through a TP52 Super Series campaign in Europe to build their team harmony.

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SUPPLIED Jimmy Spithill's Bermuda mansion which is up for sale includes five bedrooms, a pool and a boat dock.

Prada chief Patrizio Bertelli, the 71-year-old who is the force behind Luna Rossa and has been involved in America's Cup challenges since 2000, explained how Spithill, who sailed with the Italians in the 2007 Cup in Valencia, came to rejoin the syndicate.

He said Spithill had made contact in February confirming he was leaving Oracle.

"James started with us before he went to Oracle. We are always on very good terms, but even though we are on very good personal terms we didn't want to urge him into making a decision," Bertelli told SailingWorld.com.

"There were two major things we needed to agree on, which were his mentality, so to speak, his feelings about this.

"And also his compensation because, of course, when he was at Oracle he made impressive amounts of money.

"He was very open and very frank with us and half-­jokingly said, 'I would come for free'."

America's Cup wages are a closely guarded secret.

A sign of Spithill's fortune from his three campaigns with Oracle come in his property profile which includes New Zealand, Australian and Bermuda addresses. He is currently trying to sell his Bermuda villa for US$8.5m (NZ$12.24), needing to live in Italy to satisfy much stricter nationality demands enforced for the next Cup.

Bertelli suggested it would be a more relaxing atmosphere for Spithill with Luna Rossa.

"He would be much freer in expressing his identity. It feels a bit like he would like to go back 10 years …he will be very easygoing. We have one objective, which is winning the Cup."

Bertelli expected Spithill's return to be a smooth transition, saying they were "sporting rivals" previously, "it's not a personal rivalry".

But the Italian wasn't so cordial when it came to Spithill's former Oracle boss and America's Cup legend Sir Russell Coutts.

"His attitude is always a bit mercenary," Bertelli said of Coutts.

"Maybe because he is money minded and that has a huge impact on his behaviour. Then, of course, as soon as he gets on a boat it is the same old Russell … Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde."

Bertelli repeated his earlier desires to see some dignity come back to the America's Cup. He felt the return to monohulls would help achieve that while the move to radical foiling version would satisfy the next generation.

"We want to dispel the idea that the America's Cup is just a closed club with the usual people over and over again," he told SailingWorld.com.

"The America's Cup must not be reserved for established older, more mature people only. It should be appealing to a younger generation as well.

"The America's Cup has always been the expression of new technology throughout its history. It's always been the spearhead of technology in sailing, and it has to be the same way again. It has to be breakthrough technology. It will take some time, and it will take a young generation to be involved."

Bertelli hinted that Swiss syndicate Allinghi, who won the 2003 and 2007 America's Cup, could still feature in Auckland as the regatta looks for more challengers.

"[Ernesto] Bertarelli called us. He is showing some interest. He is not sure about the design or whatever. It is 2021, not tomorrow. There is still a lot of time to go."