Martin Tasker: Meet the leading America's Cup spy

Bermudian Jason Smith has been uploading a constant stream of videos of the America's Cup cats in action.

America's Cup fans starved of footage of the boats in action have one man to thank for giving them the action they crave.

Under the unlikely title of My Island Home, 33-year-old Bermudian Jason Smith has been uploading a constant stream of videos of the foiling cats in action...his hobby drawing a world-wide audience with Kiwis amongst his most ardent viewers.

And such has been the quality of his work even the teams have been knocking on his door seeking footage. Yet it all started off so innocently.

"I just uploaded a few and then all of a sudden I got a couple of hundred hits," says Smith.

"After a while people started subscribing. They went from 64-68 subscribers and I am up around 2,700 within the last about two months.

The biggest hits naturally followed the biggest incidents...40,000 for Oracle's first capsize...Smith showing an uncanny knack for being in the right place at the right time.

"Actually first capsize I caught in a way was, I guess, a bit of good luck in a way because I was getting ready to leave I was about to walk away and I looked and I saw the boat start to pick up speed and it started to tip over and said that boat is going over. It wasn't high speed or anything, it just totally tipped over."

The footage generating some interesting and not necessarily kind responses: "A lot of people was like I guess shouldn't say happy but a lot of people commented about it saying serve them right. I try not to get too deep into the politics of the sport."

Ironically Oracle was the first team to contact Smith to ask for the footage of the incident, the others soon following.

"It's something when the teams tell me 'you were recording things and we were actually watching it', "says the laid-back Bermudian. "Even Team France told me the same thing. You are a hero. What does that mean? It's like I didn't really expect the type of reaction from the teams' people saying they are actually watching what I am doing. It's been a total experience that I didn't expect."

Smith takes a bus around the island to shoot from various locations - often the spies from the rival teams as company - and he carries a simple set up of camera and tripod...a Nikon Coolpix 34X with optical zoom.

His observations have given him a unique platform to assess the standing of the teams but he won't be drawn on a favourite: "It's actually close as far as the speed for most teams. There is a bit of a difference, but being as you are from New Zealand honestly the first time I saw you guys out there that was probably the most impressive maneuvering I have seen in light wind conditions. I have never seen a team do that."

Aside from being given some team kit, Smith's work has been unpaid but he's still going to miss it when the Cup ends: "It's something I've been thinking about like what am I going to do when it's over because it's really kept me busy for a while it's been a great thing to witness and to be honest I really don't look forward to the end of it."