"The Australian-born sailor who broke New Zealand's hearts with his come-from-behind victory in the America's Cup admits he lied at press conferences during the regatta."
The surprise admission by Oracle skipper Jimmy Spithill - made to 60 Minutes reporter Belinda Henley for a show to be screened tomorrow night - reveals how far he stretched the truth to try to rock Team New Zealand captain Dean Barker.
"Most of it at press conferences is all about trying to get into the other guy's head, playing mind games," Spithill said. "Every time I stated we could win, that was true. Every time I said we wouldn't give up, that was true ... But when I was saying we were changing the boat every night ... nah, we weren't. We made a few changes but we wanted it to be known we were doing huge things every night."
Oracle trimmer Joe Newton, a childhood friend of Spithill's, backed his skipper's actions.
"Jimmy is a rough little redhead from Sydney - he's a grubby little thing in the press conferences."
