Mind games master: Australian Jimmy Spithill, skipper of Team USA in the America's Cup. Credit:EZRA SHAW As spot on as Spithill can be on the water, he is a master behind a microphone. Two weeks ago, even before New Zealand had clinched a spot in the final, Spithill said at a news conference that the Kiwis made fundamental mistakes in losing two races in the round robins to Team USA. He said the American set-up with tactician Tom Slingsby, another hard-nosed Aussie, was much better than the Kiwi boat. And then, saying he had a "leak" in the Kiwi camp, Spithill upstaged Burling when he said the Kiwis would pick Britain as their challenger semi-final opponent. Spithill has never lacked confidence, whether it was as the 20-year-old skipper of a bare-bones Aussie challenge in 2000, or at age 30 becoming the youngest skipper to win sailing's biggest prize.

In 2013, he helped lead one of the all-time great comebacks when Team USA, down 8-1 at match point to the Kiwis, won eight straight races on San Francisco Bay to retain the oldest trophy in international sport. As much as his team simply improved as the comeback progressed, there was a defining moment at a news conference. Down 7-1, Spithill was asked how he and his team could stay motivated. "I think the question is, imagine if these guys lost from here," Spithill said, glancing at then-New Zealand skipper Dean Barker. "What an upset that would be. They have almost got it in the bag. So that's my motivation. That would be one hell of a story, that would be one hell of a comeback and that's the kind of thing that I'd like to be part of." Barker looked like he had just been jarred out of a nightmare. Spithill was both Nostradamus and the Grim Reaper, backing up his comments on the water. "Look, I really try and portray the team," Spithill said Friday after he and Burling posed with the America's Cup. "When I look around me and look at my teammates, I have a lot of confidence. There are a lot of great guys, guys that aren't afraid of a fight and guys that no matter what the situation, good or bad, they're not going anywhere. They're going to be there when we need them."

Fellow Aussie John Bertrand, who in 1983 ended the New York Yacht Club's 132-year America's Cup winning streak, said Spithill "is confident in that space. That's his style and that's his natural bent. He potentially could have represented Australia in boxing at the Olympics. He was a very good boxer in the early days." "You see in Peter Burling that he's much more laid-back. ... You're dealing with different characters. Can the Jimmy sort of aggressive stance have any influence on Peter? I don't know," Bertrand said. "But you're dealing with a very different style of person compared to Dean, in my observation at least. Time will tell." On Thursday, Team New Zealand posted photos on its Facebook page showing USA crewmen carrying bow sections to Japan's base, speculating they were assembling a back-up boat using the Japanese platform. Oracle sold a design package to Japan so their boats are similar. Spithill didn't deny the team was preparing a back-up boat in case of a smash- up. If it was a ruse, it was a good one. Loading

"I think it just shows that you guys will fall for anything," Spithill chuckled. AP