Coutts and his UFC of the sea
Sailgp boss Sir Russell Coutts predicts his foiling catamarans will hit 54 knots (100kmh in landlubber lingo) as they get set to launch their second season.
Coutts’ brainchild features the 50-foot cats used at the last America’s Cup in Bermuda.
They have been further modified in their off-season with better control systems and new, smaller, wingsails for high-wind conditions that have Coutts excited as they get set for their first regatta in Sydney this weekend.
The boats had a top speed of 47.2 knots in Bermuda. Last year’s Sailgp saw Tom Slingsby’s champion Australian team achieve 50 knots in racing and 51.2 knots in training.
‘‘The predicted speeds for the small wing version in strong winds is 53-54 knots, which is absolutely incredible,’’ Coutts said before warning, ‘‘they should be pretty difficult to control at those speeds which will be interesting.
‘‘I would expect on the first strong wind day, when the teams have all got small wings, that speed record will be broken, no doubt about it.’’
Coutts said a feature of testing in Northland on the latest cat to join the seven-boat fleet was better acceleration.
The 57-year-old Coutts, New Zealand’s greatest America’s Cup sailor featuring in five victories for three different countries, is so engrossed in his new surroundings, he claims he has hardly had time to look at developments in his old domain where holders Emirates Team New Zealand have returned to a monohull, albeit a radical 75-foot foiling version, in the next quest for the Auld Mug.
‘‘Other than videos I haven’t actually seen these new boats. The reality is that I’m so focused on growing this new property that I really haven’t had a chance to look at the America’s Cup rule or understand what is going on too much. They obviously have their first event coming up in April, which is great to see.’’
And grow Sailgp he has.
There are two new teams from Spain and Denmark joining champions Australia, Japan, France, Great Britain and the United States. Copenhagen is one of five confirmed venues with the sixth and final regatta, featuring the US$1 million winner-takes-all prizemoney still to be announced.
‘‘In one year we have gone from being a start-up to a fully fledged global sports entity,’’ Coutts said, adding his long-term vision is for 10 teams including New Zealand.
But it’s the recent partnership with Endeavor, a Hollywoodbased global entertainment, sports and content company, that has Coutts excited for the longevity of his circuit.
The company has helped UFC quickly achieve its incredible global popularity and also owns the International Management Group, which has been a world force in sports marketing and management of some of the biggest names in professional sport. They put a value of US$200M on Sailgp.
‘‘This is a first for the sport of sailing and the services they can assist us with are incredible. I really believe this is a gamechanger for Sailgp and possibly even wider than that, the sport of sailing. It’s already making a difference, having access to their expertise and they have a strong presence in all of our key markets.’’
Coutts said Endeavor could help with ticketing, sponsorship, licensing, athlete representation and promotion, and content creation among others.
‘‘There’s a full host of skills that they bring to the table. This is being built as a commercially sustainable property where the teams are built around equity over time and there is consistency of teams, consistency of format and venues . . . just like most other sports.’’
The product proved irresistible to Sir Ben Ainslie’s British America’s Cup syndicate INEOS Team UK, which has joined the catamaran circuit to complement its foiling work but also have a long-term vision.
‘‘We were somewhat surprised by it. But in other ways it was an obvious move for them,’’ Coutts said, adding that INEOS approached him. ‘‘It gets their team an opportunity to get into a real racing situation but they have done it because of the commercial potential of Sailgp.’’
Having Ainslie involves further validates the product and will certainly add competition as he tangles with some of his old America’s Cup rivals with his aggressive and successful style.
‘‘Ainslie coming into the mix provides some pretty good motivation for the likes of Slingsby and (Nathan) Outteridge,’’ Coutts said.
There’s much to admire about Coutts’ vision. He made his name as an Olympic champion and cemented it in the older, slower America’s Cup boats. But he was quick to see the potential of the multi-hulls and the rapid developments in foiling that have changed yachting and other watersports.
‘‘Ever since the foiling revolution happened, and the foiling boats started to get raced around these short-course formats, with media-friendly programming, that was really was a massive change.
‘‘I don’t think many people could have predicted that. All of a sudden you had this sport that went form being pretty dull to watch to being exciting to watch and pretty action-packed.
‘‘A lot of people didn’t think this would trickle down to your average sailor but, of course, it has . . . it’s exciting stuff. It’s almost a new sport.’’