Russell Coutts

Russell Coutts, born March 1, 1962 in Wellington New Zealand is a competitive sailor who is considered by many to be the best match racer in the world. His achievements include a Gold medal in the Finn Class in the 1984 Olympic Games, winning the America's Cup three 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.

In New Zealand he has been honoured with a Commander of the British Empire and the Distinguished Companion of New Zealand Order of Merit and has twice been the International Yacht Racing Union’s World Sailor of the Year. He is undefeated in the America's Cup, with 14 wins and no losses.

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 of 2007, Coutts was named CEO and Skipper of BMW Oracle Racing, an American Challenger to the America's Cup.

Sailing career

* 1981 - ISAF World Youth Champion / 1^st
* 1984 - Olympic Games / Los Angeles / Finn Class / Gold Medal
* 1992 - World Champion / Match Racing
* 1993 - World Champion / Match Racing
- Admiral's Cup / "Pinta" / 1^st
* 1994 - World Champion / Match Racing
* 1995 - America’s Cup / Skipper of / San Diego / Winner (37 victories, 1 loss)
* 1996 - World Champion / Match Racing
* 2000 - America’s Cup / Team New Zealand / Auckland / Winner (5 to 0)
* 2001 - World Champion / 12 metre JI / Cowes
- World Champion / Farr 40 / Southampton, UK
* 2003 - Louis Vuitton Cup / Class America / Alinghi / Auckland / 1^st
- America's Cup / Alinghi / Auckland / Winner (5 to 0)
* 2006 - Bol d'Or Rolex / Decision 35 / Team Banque Gonet / Switzerland / 1^st
- World Champion / Farr 40 / Vincenzo Onorato Team / Newport, U.S.
* 2007 - World Champion / TP 52 / Team Artemis
* 2008 - Cagliari RC 44 Cup, Match Racing / RC 44 / BMW ORACLE Racing / Cagliari, Italy / 1^st
- TP 52 Audi MedCup / TP 52 / Team USA 17 / 1^st
- Malcesine SLAM Cup, Match Racing / RC 44 / BMW ORACLE Racing / Malcesine, Italy / 1^st

Awards

* 1984 - New Zealand Yachtsman of the Year
* 1985 - Member of the British Empire, MBE
* 1994 - Silberne Lorbeerlatt, German National Award
* 1995 - Commander of the British Empire, CBE
* 1995 - Sperry World Sailor of the Year
* 1995 - Halberg Award
* 1995 - ISAF World Sailor of the Year Award
* 1996 - America's Cup Hall of Fame
* 1996 - World Trophy for Oceania
* 2000 - Distinguished Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit
* 2003 - ISAF Rolex World Sailor of the Year Award

References

External links

* [http://www.russellcoutts.com/ www.russellcoutts.com] - Official Russell Coutts's website
* [http://rc44.com/ www.rc44.com] - Official RC44 Class Association's website
* [http://www.transpac52.org/ www.transpac52.org] - Official Transpac 52's Website
* [http://bmworacleracing.com/ bmworacleracing.com] - Official BMW ORACLE Racing's Website
* [http://www.americascup.com/ www.americascup.com] - Official America's Cup's Website