Rome Kirby, the Oracle Team USA trimmer, is having an absolute “blast” sailing in the Great Sound.

The son of Jerry Kirby, a veteran of six America’s Cup campaigns, has been sharpening his foiling skills this week with some of his team-mates in the Phantom catamaran at the venue where Oracle will lay their America’s Cup title on the line in 2017.

“These sessions let us learn about foiling on catamarans,” Kirby said. “Everyone gets to have a go driving and crewing. It keeps your skills sharp and it’s a blast.”

This week marks the first time Oracle sailors have tested the waters in the Great Sound.

Kyle Langford, Graeme Spence, Joey Newton and Andrew Campbell were the first members of the team to get a feel for the local conditions on Wednesday. Matt Cassidy, Tom Slingsby, Sam Newton and Kirby sailed the next day in heavier breezes.

“We were hauling the mail out there,” Kirby said. “I reckon we were close to about 30 knots at times. We had about 14-18 knots of wind, pretty flat water, sun was out. It was a blast.”

Kirby and his father are both America’s Cup winners.

Jerry Kirby won the ‘Auld Mug’ in 1992 as a bowman on America 3 while son Rome won it in 2013 with Oracle Team USA in San Francisco. It is believed that the Kirbys are the first father and son to win the America’s Cup in the event’s history.

Kirby has been doing a lot of foiling in smaller boats in recent months. The Newport, Rhode Island resident was among five Oracle Team USA sailors that qualified for the Gold Fleet at January’s 2015 World Moth Championships in Port Phillip, Australia.

The single-handed International Moth dinghy has hydrofoiling capabilities like the America’s Cup Class catamarans which make them a perfect fit for America’s Cup sailors.

“Sailing Moths is a big part of our preparations,” Kirby said. “We are sailing Moths at this point on our own to kind of stay current.

“Each guy on the boats nowadays has to be tactically sound and in tune to what’s going on. Each guy has to think on his own and make decisions on his own as well as being aware and up to speed with what’s going on.”