Yachting: Coutts launches new boat

Former America's Cup-winning skipper Russell Coutts' new class of racing yacht, bearing his name, is to be officially launched in Italy this week.

A three-time cup-winning helmsman, twice with Team New Zealand, Coutts turned to designing a light-displacement boat after his acrimonious split with Swiss syndicate Alinghi last year.

The 44-foot (13.5m) craft, dubbed the Russell Coutts 44, will go on display at the Genoa International Boat Show and at the Barcolana regatta at Trieste this weekend.

Coutts, an engineering graduate from Auckland University, worked on the design with Slovene naval architect Andrej Justin.

They tested the boat in northern Italy in August and Coutts said today the results had been good. "The testing we've done so far has confirmed that we've exceeded expectations," he said.

"The boat is huge fun to sail and we had it sailing downwind at 18.5 knots (34km/h) on Lake Garda in about 22 knots (41km/h) of breeze."

Coutts said the performance racer, which did not include comforts for cruising, had an open cockpit, a narrow beam and a "huge" sail plan.

It was designed for a crew of seven, which could be reduced to five in a professional match racing environment.

Coutts said he had wanted to create a boat that performed well at light wind venues, as this was where most harbour and lake sailing was staged.

He also wanted a craft that could be sailed short-handed with a deck layout incorporating many non-standard adjustments to improve speed.

"The trim tab on the keel was an example of that thinking, to reduce keel area and yet still achieve good upwind performance and manoeuvrability," he said.

He said the Slovenia-based World Carbon Co had produced the first four boats under a licence for Europe, Russia, Africa and the United States.

- NZPA