Yachting: Oracle skipper Jimmy Spithill reveals he came close to having his arm amputated from post-surgery complications

Oracle Team USA skipper Jimmy Spithill said returning to the water too soon almost cost him his arm. Photo/Brett Phibbs.

Jimmy Spithill has revealed he came close to having his arm amputated earlier this year after battling a serious post-surgery infection.

The two-time America's Cup winning skipper said his decision to rush back on the water with Oracle Team USA following surgery to repair a persistent case of tennis elbow also cost him his arm.

Spithill picked up a severe infection after getting his wound wet, and had to undergo a series of emergency surgeries before spending 10 weeks on an intravenous drip.
"I had a race, Portsmouth in the Louis Vuitton World Series, on the Saturday I tore [the tendon] off the bone but then raced Sunday," Spithill told the Sydney Morning Herald.

"The surgery was a success but I rushed back and got it wet and picked up a real bad infection and then it was multiple surgeries, pretty much living with the surgeon."

"IV for 10 weeks, antibiotics morning and night so it was a battle.

"I'm glad we finally won and we beat it. If it wasn't for the surgeon, a guy by the name of Rob Bray, who knows. He saved me, I almost lost my arm."

Spithill, who skippered Oracle to a spectacular come-from-behind win over Team New Zealand in the 2013 America's Cup said the ordeal has taught him an important lesson in taking a step back.

"You can't just go full throttle all the time," he said.

"It [the elbow injury] gave me time to really think about the [next America's Cup] campaign, what was going on, it was just a good mental test."

Spithill, who was aboard Jim Clark's super maxi Comanche when it took line honours in the 2015 Sydney to Hobart yacht race, plans to sit back and watch the race from his arm chair this year, with Comanche not returning to defend its crown in 2016.

"It's a bit of a blessing in disguise that Comanche isn't here because it gives me a chance to recuperate because the next six months will be full throttle."