America’s Cup: Oracle Team USA sailing for historic treble

Many perils can befall sailors while at sea – and even the most skilled crews in the world are not immune.

Oracle Team USA, winners of the last two America’s Cups, will attempt secure a historic third successive title when they take to the seas of Bermuda in 2017.

The Americans produced one of the most incredible comebacks in sporting history to retain the title in 2013 but, even with elite sailors on board, hair-raising moments are unavoidable.

Above, you can see the team capsizing and experiencing – what they call – “the splashdown.”

It’s enough to make you seasick just watching them.

Read: Suited sailor nails death-defying kitesurfing stunt

Alex Thomson begins his stunt by chasing his speeding IMOCA Open 60 yacht on a kiteboard, while dressed in a sharp suit and tie.

Using the boat's speed to propel himself, the British around-the-world sailor soars 280 feet into the air above the yacht.

This time-lapse image shows four stages of the yachtsman's ascent, reaching twice the height of his boat's mast -- the equivalent of a 25-story building.

"He's flying, he's flying!" one of Thomson's team members can be heard shrieking in the video footage as the skipper soars 280 feet above the water.

At peak height, Thomson detaches the rope from his harness, freeing him to kitesurf...

... expertly down to a perfect landing on the water.

A total of 35 people were involved in the planning, co-ordination and execution of the stunt, Thomson's most ambitious yet.

"I've always had a love for all things wind-powered so naturally a stunt which involved kite surfing was the next step," said the 41-year-old, who performed a keelwalk in 2012 and a mastwalk in 2014.

For the mastwalk, the fearless around-the-world sailor scaled and dived off his boat's 98-foot (30-meter) mast.

For the first stunt, Thomson strolled along the keel of his speeding race yacht.

This latest effort took place at Alvor in Portugal, a kitesurfing hotspot.

Thomson has set his sights on winning the non-stop solo around-the-world race, the Vendee Globe, which starts in November.

Skywalk: Sailor Alex Thomson nails death-defying stunt

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