Russell Coutts

Russell Coutts

Sir Russell Coutts, KNZM, CBE (born 1 March 1962 in Wellington New Zealand) is a competitive sailor. His achievements include a Gold medal in the Finn Class in the 1984 Olympic Games, winning the America's Cup four times, the ISAF World Youth championships, three World Match Racing Championships, numerous international match race wins and IOR, IMS and One Design World Championship victories. He has a perfect record in America's Cup racing with 20 wins to 0 losses.

In New Zealand he has been honoured with a Commander of the Order of the British Empire and the Knight Companion of New Zealand Order of Merit and has twice been the International Yacht Racing Union’s World Sailor of the Year. He holds an impressive record in the America's Cup, with 14 wins and 2 losses since 1995 winning four America's Cups (1995, 2000, 2003, 2010).

In 2005, he designed – together with Slovenian designer Andrej Justin – a new boat called the RC 44; a high performance one design racer created for top level racing in international regattas under strictly controlled Class Rules. The concept and the design features of the RC 44 are dedicated to the amateur helmsmen racing in fleet racing sailing events.

In July 2007, Coutts was named CEO and Skipper of BMW Oracle Racing, sponsored by Golden Gate Yacht Club (GGYC), the United States Challenger to the 2010 America's Cup. He was involved in the pre-match litigation between the challengers Golden Gate Yacht Club and Société Nautique de Genève (SNG), in which the court decided that the GGYC was the rightful Challenger of Record. Cup Defender SNG's team was Alinghi. Coutts' yacht USA beat the defending yacht Alinghi 5 by considerable margins in both races. Most observers stated that USA 17's rigid wing sail had given it a decisive advantage.

His son is New Zealand celebrity television personality Grayson Coutts