Up-and-coming Brady out to thrash his idol

By Suzanne McFadden

Gavin Brady idolised Russell Coutts. On his parent's lounge wall in Timaru is a hat signed by the America's Cup champion, scored by Brady as a wide-eyed teenager.

Out on the water today, Brady intends to pummel his idol.

The two Kiwi skippers come up against each other in the quarterfinals of the Bermuda Gold Cup, the world's premier matchracing regatta.

Coutts, three times world champion, still has the advantage of experience over 25-year-old Brady. But Brady has zoomed up the world rankings this year to overtake his hero.

Brady is now fourth. Coutts, who has missed most of the circuit because of glandular fever, is sixth.

"I'm still in awe of him. Our crew still don't believe we're on a par with him," Brady said.

"Russell came up the other day and congratulated us for the hard work we've done this year. He's a true sportsman in every way. I'm always going to look up to him."

Brady's success this year is reaping recognition elsewhere. He is now being headhunted by America's Cup challengers in the United States.

Paul Cayard's AmericaOne and Dawn Riley's America True are making plays for the young Kiwi, who has lived in the United States since 1994.

"It's nice to be wanted - sometimes. But when you're making a career decision like this it's really hard," he said. He will probably go with America True, where he has been offered a job as starting helmsman. The truth is, Brady wants to make a big splash as a round-the-world skipper in the Volvo Ocean race in three years.

"I can see that's where Gavin Brady will make his debut as a skipper on the world stage," Brady said. "I'm not seen as one of the top five in the world yet and I want to make my mark in the public's eye."

Brady spent six months sailing on Chessie Racing in the Whitbread this year, and was amazed how well he fared when he returned to the world matchracing circuit.

He realises he is fortunate to have the backing of Hong Kong entrepreneur Carl Kwok, who employs Brady to sail on his 50ft Beau Geste.

While he is still in awe of Coutts, he will not let that cloud his vision on the racecourse in Bermuda today. He is driven by revenge.

"Last year he knocked us out in the quarters. We were 2-2 and our mainsheet broke. Another year has gone by, so who knows what will happen?"

Brady has two other Kiwis in his four-man crew - Morgan Trubovich and Sean Clarkson.

New Zealand skippers feature in other quarterfinal matchups: Murray Jones races British America's Cup skipper Chris Law, while John Cutler comes up against world No 1 Peter Gilmour.