Russell Coutts adds yacht design to cv

If Russell Coutts has his way, he may be involved with the America's Cup again. But don't necessarily expect to see him on a boat.

New Zealand's most successful yachtsman is still competing on the water, but is embarking on what he describes as one of the most satisfying phases of his glittering career.

Coutts the master helmsman has become Coutts the designer. His first yacht, a pure racing boat, was launched recently in a lake in northern Italy.

"I've just finished designing a 44-footer and we've sailed the first prototype," Coutts said.

"It's quite a fun new project and I'm going to put more focus on that in the coming years.

"With the America's Cup, I've had some sort of input into design. But this is the first time I've been chief designer, so to speak.

"I was a bit nervous the first time I took the boat for a sail but fortunately it all performed as we wanted. I think it's a good product."

Coutts won fame and fortune on the water as an Olympic gold medallist, a world match-racing champion and a three-time America's Cup-winning skipper.

He won and defended the Auld Mug with Team New Zealand, before leaving in controversial circumstances to join Swiss syndicate Alinghi, promptly returning to New Zealand to take the trophy to the landlocked nation.

Last year, Alinghi owner Ernesto Bertarelli sacked Coutts, and invoked an obscure rule to prevent the New Zealander joining another syndicate. A settlement was reached, and neither side now elaborates on the split.

For Coutts, the messy departure removed him from the America's Cup, his great passion. But it also gave him time, space and a healthy bank account with which to devote to his new interest.

"Designing is an opportunity for me, and it's an area I've always wanted to get into. I just haven't had the time," he said.

"Who knows? If it's successful, it could be a good thing to put some energy into."

Coutts derived a huge amount of pleasure out of competing in the America's Cup, the Formula One of yachting.

It has consumed his life since the early 1990s, when Team New Zealand started to build their super-team in pursuit of the cup for the first time.

Now, he's on the outside looking in. And he's actually quite enjoying it.

"I did wonder how I would feel, to be out of the America's Cup. But right now, I must say I'm enjoying having a look at things from a fresh perspective.

"I'm developing other skills and focusing on different areas. If I can use this time productively, it'll be a good thing, long-term."

But what everybody wants to know is whether Coutts will dip his toe back into the America's Cup water after the 2007 regatta in Valencia.

He says he has no plans to get back in the game, but they might change depending on who wins the cup and what sort of event is created next time.

Coutts says he holds no lingering bitterness towards Alinghi for the way he was treated. He still speaks to his former sailing mates, especially Brad Butterworth, regularly.

And he was not bothered by an apparent double standard when former Team New Zealand guru Tom Schnackenberg was allowed to join an Italian syndicate.

"Good for Tom Schnack, that's all I'd say. He's been able to join Prada, which is a good team. Hopefully, they'll be able to use his considerable skills.

"I'm not bitter. Right now, I'm enjoying doing some other things.

"I've stepped back. I was inside that world for a long time, and didn't get a chance to look from the outside. Now I'm doing things I wasn't dreaming about, and they're giving me a lot of satisfaction. Change can be great."

Coutts likes Alinghi's chances of retaining the cup.

"I also think Team New Zealand are shaping up well, and I like Prada.

"They're still racing in old boats and using old technology, and it's not really until we see the teams in new boats that we'll know.

"But New Zealand's sailing team is good, they've got a great afterguard combination, and Dean Barker is sailing well."

Coutts now keeps his sailing skills sharp in a variety of races.

He has a Danish crew and competes in four or five match-races a season, and can also be seen in multi-hull sailing and catamarans, and in a circuit around the Mediterranean known as the TP52.

A new challenge was the Los Angeles to Hawaii race, the longest Coutts has ever attempted. He had a ball on the long haul at the helm of the 86-foot maxi Morning Glory.

While he famously battled on with a boil on his backside to win gold in the Finn Class at the 1984 Olympics, Coutts has no immediate plans to represent New Zealand at the Games again.

"I sailed in an Olympic boat this year, and frankly I wasn't anywhere near fit enough. My body wasn't really up to it, but I still got some good results against quality opposition.

"I just don't think I've got the time to commit to an Olympic programme."

Coutts and wife Jenny are expecting a baby in December, to join Michael, 4, and Natasha, 2, and Coutts' son, Grayson, from a previous relationship.

The Coutts family lives just out of Geneva, in a quaint little village among vineyards, overlooking a lake. It's storybook beautiful, and Coutts likens the peace of the place to rural parts of the South Island.

He intends to remain in Switzerland for as long as he is competing.

Coutts was back in Dunedin just for one night. He paid his own way to be the guest of honour at the launch of the Otago Boys High School Foundation, established to raise funding for special projects at the school.

- nzpa