Yachting: Coutts eyes up Oracle's opposition

Sir Russell Coutts. Photo / Natalie Slade

Russell Coutts has pushed aside the sniping from the last America's Cup - so much so he's planning a raid on rivals Alinghi.

It is believed Alinghi strategist Murray Jones, who joined BMW Oracle chief executive Coutts in jumping ship from Team New Zealand after the 2000 defence of the America's Cup, is one target.

"There's a few of the Alinghi guys, quite a few of them, that any team will target. Murray Jones is certainly one of the guys who has got plenty of skills, his record speaks for itself," Coutts said. "There are others as well. It will be interesting to see what happens there over the next six to 12 months with the teams and these people. I think there will be some shuffling."

Coutts and Oracle have a big advantage in negotiations over other teams in that they can offer, with absolute certainty, the fact they that will be competing in the next America's Cup regatta. With the slumping economy making it harder for teams to raise cash, many sailors have been placed on casual or retainer-type contracts, making them vulnerable to approaches.

"These decisions you make at the start of the campaign are always the really important ones," Coutts said.

The 48-year-old is in charge of making some pretty big decisions over the next few weeks, including his own future.

"We have to announce a timeline for some of the key decisions like the venue, format, type of boats and so forth at the end of March. We've been meeting some of the teams to get their ideas on some of the big issues to be sorted out."

Coutts confirmed that his boss Larry Ellison's first choice of venue is San Francisco - home to their representative club the Golden Gate Yacht Club - with 2013 the most likely timing.

But the wheres and whens will be the easiest decisions. What won't be so easy is the question of what type of boat.

The Alinghi-Oracle showdown in giant multihulls opened up the sailing community to a new realm of possibilities in terms of technology and design. While the contests were not close, the racing was spectacular.

Most America's Cup observers have declared the next event will see a return to monohulls, but Coutts said he had not closed the door on multihulls.

"The multihulls were spectacular. I think it should be at least discussed if you came up with a sensible rule. But I think most people would probably favour monohulls, but I'm not making any presumptions."

The biggest consideration when it comes to developing a new class rule will be cost, but Coutts said that did not mean technology would have to be dumbed down. "If we end up in San Francisco, at an exciting venue with exciting wind conditions, there's a great opportunity to have some pretty spectacular boats.

"We've got to do a lot more work to figure out what budgets are acceptable, what the costs should be and fit that in with a consensus view of the teams."

Emirates Team NZ boss Grant Dalton has previously stated he is confident his syndicate can make a successful switch if the America's Cup's future lies in multihull yachts.

However, the move may not go down well with America's Cup traditionalists. Louis Vuitton spokesman Bruno Trouble made his thoughts known at a breakfast in Auckland last month to launch this week's world series regatta. Trouble believed a move to multihulls would be detrimental to the America's Cup as a spectacle.

"In a monohull, the difference between two boats is 5 or 10 per cent of a knot," he said. "In Valencia, we saw a difference of between two and four knots, so I don't believe match-racing in multihulls is a good solution."

But most yachting aficionados would be of the view that the AC-class rule used at the last multi-challenger event in 2007 in Valencia is in need of a radical overhaul. The AC version-5 yachts will be back on the water this month for the Louis Vuitton regatta in Auckland, with Team NZ dusting off their old America's Cup warhorses - NZL 84 and NZL92 - for the event.

Coutts said after seeing these boats in action again that it was clear they were relics of the past.

"I think it's time for a change there. They produce some good close racing. It wasn't all bad. There's some lessons to be learned from there but we can definitely improve on that."

RUSSELL COUTTS SAYS

"The multihulls were spectacular. I think [racing them again] should be at least discussed."

"If we end up in San Francisco, at an exciting venue with exciting wind conditions, there's a great opportunity to have some pretty spectacular boats."

"There's a few of the Alinghi guys, quite a few of them, that any team will target."