BMW ORACLE Racing skipper James Spithill has developed an affinity for death-defying aerobatic stunts. While learning how to sail the wingsail trimaran USA, he also gained his pilot’s license, reasoning that understanding how air flows across a wing would serve him well at the wheel of the 90-foot tri.
In August he flew aboard a stunt helicopter that did a reverse 360?nid=77576, one of only four in the world that can go upside down.
Last week in Dubai, he was at it again. Spithill made the second skydive of his life during the lay day at the Louis Vuitton Trophy Dubai. The jump from an altitude 13,000 feet was followed by a minute of free fall at terminal velocity – about 130 miles per hour – when the ripcord is pulled to pop the chute for a 5-minute ride to terra firma.