Matt Cassidy, the former World Match Racing Tour winner, has been drafted into Oracle Team USA’s team for next month’s Louis Vuitton America’s Cup World Series in New York.

The American sailor joined Oracle nearly two years ago but has yet to compete with the defender of the America’s Cup in an official race.

“It’s very exciting to think I could be getting into an official race after all this time sailing with the guys in Bermuda,” Cassidy, who won a World Match Racing title with past King Edward VII Gold Cup winners Team GAC Pindar, said.

“The main difference in New York compared to what we’re doing here in Bermuda is that these races count.

“We want to win. It’s not testing; it’s not practice. Every race we sail in the Louis Vuitton America’s Cup World Series counts, so you have to perform.”

Cassidy has been busy doing his homework on the foiling AC45F catamaran which he has yet to sail.

“I sailed on the non-foiling AC45 boats back when I tried out with the team in 2014, but that’s the closest I’ve been to sailing on one of these boats,” he said.

“So I’ve been looking at a lot of video footage and talking to the guys, getting help from our coach, but at a certain point you just need to get out there and get into it.”

Tom Slingsby, the Oracle sailing team manager and tactician, said: “You can’t train very much on the AC45F race boats, so we’re hoping to get Matt some time on board during the limited sailing we have on Thursday and in practice racing on Friday.”

Cassidy, who has also won multiple titles in the RC44 class, will compete against San Newton in the months leading up to the next World Series regatta for the bowman’s role on Oracle’s boat.

Jimmy Spithill, the skipper, Kyle Langford, the wing trimmer, Joe Newton, trimmer, and Slingsby make up the remainder of Oracle’s team that will have their work cut out coming to grips with the challenging conditions in New York.

“It’s going to be a tricky place to race,” Slingsby said. “There is a lot of current and obviously plenty of big landmarks on shore which affect the wind and make it all the more tricky.

“But as hard as it will be, it’s the same for everybody, and the best team always seems to win.”

Oracle are presently second behind leaders Emirates Team New Zealand in the overall World Series standings. Land Rover BAR, the British challenger, sit in third.

Next month’s World Series regatta in New York will be held from May 7 to 8.

The event is the first stage of competition for the America’s Cup to be held in Bermuda in June 2017. Featuring all of the America’s Cup teams, the series is an opportunity to earn points that will count towards the America’s Cup qualifiers and play-offs, which will determine who competes against defender Oracle Team USA.