Rome Kirby is an American

sailor A sailor, seaman, mariner, or seafarer is a person who works aboard a watercraft as part of its crew, and may work in any one of a number of different fields that are related to the operation and maintenance of a ship. While the term ''sailor'' ...

who has competed in the

Volvo Ocean Race The Ocean Race is a yacht race around the world, held every three or four years since 1973. Originally named the Whitbread Round the World Race after its initiating sponsor, British brewing company Whitbread, in 2001 it became the Volvo Ocean Rac ...

and multiple

America's Cup The America's Cup is a sailing competition and the oldest international competition still operating in any sport. America's Cup match races are held between two sailing yachts: one from the yacht club that currently holds the trophy (known ...

s. Kirby is a native of

Newport, Rhode Island Newport is a seaside city on Aquidneck Island in Rhode Island, United States. It is located in Narragansett Bay, approximately southeast of Providence, Rhode Island, Providence, south of Fall River, Massachusetts, south of Boston, and nort ...

. His father, Jerry Kirby, has sailed in three Volvo Ocean Races and six America's Cups. They are believed to be the first father and son to win the America's Cup. Kirby was an alternate for Puma Racing, supporting '' Il Mostro'' during the 2008–09 Volvo Ocean Race. He then sailed with Puma Racing on '' Mar Mostro'' during the 2011–12 Volvo Ocean Race. He was the youngest sailor in the six-boat fleet. Kirby then joined

Oracle Racing Oracle Team USA is an American yacht racing syndicate initially formed to compete for the 2003 America's Cup. They competed again in the 2007 event before winning the 33rd America's Cup regatta in 2010 – representing the Golden Gate Yacht Club. ...

and sailed on ''

Oracle Team USA 17 ''Oracle Team USA 17'' is an AC72 class catamaran of Oracle Team USA that successfully defended the 2013 America's Cup. The yacht was donated to the Mariners' Museum in Newport News, Virginia, where as of 2017 it is on display. Career ''Oracle ...

'' as a trimmer, when it successfully defended the

2013 America's Cup The 34th America's Cup was a regatta, series of yacht races held in San Francisco Bay in September 2013. The series was contested between the defender Oracle Team USA team representing the Golden Gate Yacht Club, and the challenger Emirates Team ...

. He was the youngest sailor on the boat. He remained with the team and sailed in the 2011–13 America's Cup World Series as a tactician but did not sail in the

2017 America's Cup The 2017 America's Cup was the 35th staging of the America's Cup yacht race. The challenger, Emirates Team New Zealand, won by a score of 7 to 1 over the defender, Oracle Team USA. It was held on the Great Sound in Bermuda from June 17 to June 2 ...

, acting as a reserve. Rome Kirby became the Captain of Team USA for

SailGP The Rolex SailGP Championship is an international sailing (sport), sailing competition that features high-performance F50 (catamaran), F50 Sailing hydrofoil, foiling catamarans, where teams compete across a season of multiple grands prix (GP) a ...

in 2019.Rome Kirby on Sail Sport Talk on Sports Byline USA 04 April 2019
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References

Living people 1990s births American male sailors (sport) Volvo Ocean Race sailors 2013 America's Cup sailors Oracle Racing sailors United States SailGP Team sailors Sportspeople from Newport, Rhode Island 21st-century American sportsmen {{US-sport-bio-stub