The former champion yachtsman is back in Dunedin this week and ran a coaching clinic before the New Zealand O’Pen Cup, which starts today. The 54-year-old has been coaching for the past 12 months and is enjoying passing on his knowledge and trying to grow the sport.
"I’m always interested to help," Coutts said.
"Obviously, I love the sport and I love sharing that passion with other people that are keen on getting involved.
"The good thing is there’s quite a strong core group of young local sailors. So we’re trying to build on that."
He believed sailing was becoming strong again in New Zealand. Last year’s Olympics had been successful, but there was still more to come. By growing the sport among juniors it would have a flow-on effect of being more competitive at the highest level. The first step to doing that was getting youngsters into the sport.
"Right now, the youth programme is about exposing kids to the sport. Giving them a chance to get out on the water and learn some new skills and have some fun."
Coutts had a decorated career on the water. After winning the gold medal in the Finn class at the 1984 Olympics, he skippered Team New Zealand to America’s Cup wins in 1995 and 2000. In 2003 he won the Cup again, with Alinghi, before being CEO of the champion Oracle team in 2010 and 2013.
Now he is the CEO of the America’s Cup Event Authority, the organising body for this year’s America’s Cup in Bermuda.‘‘It’s shaping up to be a good event, shaping up to be a very close event.
"The teams are competitive and I think for people watching that’s the most important thing, that we see some really good racing. Everyone talks about the boats and the boats will be awesome, there’s no doubt about that.
"But one of the things that was great about the last cup was the closeness of the finals. I think we’re going to see more of that racing much earlier now in the elimination races.
"I honestly couldn’t pick a winner right now. It’s going to be really interesting to see how it develops. The next four or five months are going to be key obviously."
That may seem a long way from the Otago Harbour, although now that his racing days are over, Coutts might manage to inspire youngsters to reach those lofty heights.
"I had years of it, so I’m getting more of a kick out of getting involved with these junior sailors these days.
"Obviously in terms of America’s Cup I’m way past my years of being involved with that. They’re all young sailors these days, even mid-30s is getting old for these boats.
"So I think that’s a good thing for the sport, it’s bringing more opportunity to the younger sailors, to the Olympic sailors."
The New Zealand O’Pen Cup is the national championships for the O’Pen Bic class. It represents the next step from the Optimus, the beginners’ boat, and provides a pathway to the 49er class sailed at the Olympics. Racing starts today and runs until Monday at the Otago University Aquatic Centre.
