After distinguishing himself by winning a Finn world championship and an Olympic gold medal in the early ’80s, Coutts (b. 1962) turned his attention to match racing. He dominated the professional match racing circuit for the better part of a decade and in 1995 won it’s top prize, the America’s Cup, skippering for Team New Zealand. A successful defense followed in 2000.
In the wake of that triumph Coutts switched to Ernesto Bertarelli’s Swiss Alinghi syndicate, of which he was Executive Director and skipper for its 2003 Cup challenge. In March 2003, Alinghi defeated Team New Zealand 5-0 to return the Cup to Europe.
Sailing World conducted an interview with Russell Coutts shortly after his induction into the Hall of Fame-to read, click here
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