Yachting: Coutts out to match a piece of Cup history

By SUZANNE McFADDEN

If Team New Zealand skipper Russell Coutts can haul in another win over Prada today, he will equal a record set almost 100 years ago.

That victory would be the ninth in a row for Team New Zealand in the America's Cup, on the day before Coutts' 38th birthday.

The only skipper to have won that many Cup races straight is Charlie Barr, one of the greatest helmsmen in the history of the Auld Mug.

Barr steered American boats to victory in three consecutive Cup regattas - Columbia in both 1899 and 1901, and Reliance in 1903.

They were all 3-0 whitewashes, and all over Sir Thomas Lipton's fleet of Shamrock yachts.

The Scots-born Barr was not unlike Coutts in his sailing attitude. He was aggressive over the start-line and won with superior tactics rather than just pure boat speed.

The moustachioed, bespectacled helmsman was described as "a formidable skipper, an adroit strategist, exploiting the weaknesses of his adversary relentlessly."

During his reign, it was said there was no other skipper to rival him.

Coutts' aggression in the pre-starts against Prada's Francesco de Angelis has been one of the highlights of the match-up so far, with Coutts winning three out of three.

Prada have yet to reach the top mark first in their races against the Kiwis.

The last time another boat led Team New Zealand around the first mark was OneAustralia during the Louis Vuitton Cup finals in 1995.

Rod Davis, Prada's Kiwi coach, was at the wheel of the Australian boat.

In the statistics book, Luna Rossa was first around the mark almost 75 per cent of the time in the challenger series.

Whether Coutts will get to set the record today could also depend on the weather.

The forecast for the Hauraki Gulf is 10-15 knot southwesterlies, but they will only arrive if the land heats up further south in the Waikato and the clouds disappear.

So Hamilton, turn on your heaters.