| Russell
Coutts' Side . . . From The Back Side
By
Rich Roberts
For Yacht Racing.com
Russell
Coutts answered the phone from the back side at
the Geneva Golf Club, as in Switzerland.
 |
Russell
Coutts. Photo
Courtesy Team Alinghi.
|
"I'm
just in the middle of a golf game," he said.
"Can you call back?"
"Sure
. . . but how are you doing?" I asked, thinking
along the lines of his current impasse with Alinghi
boss Ernesto Bertarelli.
"I
just had a 7," he said with an ironic hint
of a chuckle.
Clearly,
while the Alinghi problem has caused some distress,
it has not destroyed Coutts' life. While his America's
Cup future is clouded, he remains a member in good
standing at Geneva GC. ACs may come and go, but
the pursuit of birdies amid the reality of bogeys
is eternal.
Coutts
has seen a bit of both lately.
It's
been universally reported that the triple winner
of sailing's grandest prize has had a critical falling
out with Bertarelli, the young biotech billionaire
who was part of the afterguard in Alinghi's 5-0
blitz of Team New Zealand last year.
Bertarelli
sounded especially upset during last week's UBS
Trophy event at Newport, R.I. because Coutts had
declined to drive the boat against BMW Oracle, according
to what Bertarelli said were the terms of his contract.
Bertarelli has made it clear that old pal Michael
Bonnefous runs the America's Cup Management arm
of the operation and that Coutts runs only the boat.
"For
me to find that he doesn't want to jump on an Alinghi
boat is a bit of surprise given that what I basically
hired him for was helming," Bertarelli was
quoted by English sailing journalist Tim Jeffery.
"If the guy doesn't want to do his basic task,
we have a bit of problem."
Coutts
said Wednesday, after completing his round of golf,
"I did notify them in writing, and even before
that I had certainly verbally indicated that there
was a problem. And the day before we raced I once
again notified the team in writing and verbally--and
verbally to Ernesto---so I'm surprised that he was
surprised."
Coutts,
although he is 14-0 in America's Cup final matches,
believes he has much more to offer from his experience
in four AC campaigns.
Q:
So, what's the problem?
Coutts:
"I believe in keeping a big part of this private,
because it is a private dispute between Ernesto
and myself. But what's already been said is that
it's a dispute over the direction of the management.
It's pretty clear that both parties had different
expectations what my role should be."
Q:
Bertarelli has suggested that you were hired to
drive, period.
"That's
the thing. I had expectations beyond that. Helming
was one of my functions, for sure, but I'm not going
to go any farther into the details. I'm just hoping
that this thing is resolved amicably. I think [that
would] be best for the team. If we do choose to
part ways, then we'd probably have time to do that."
Q:
You do still care about the team?
"Of
course I do, because I have a lot of friends in
there and, as you know, very close friends. I think
the worst thing could be is if this drags on. I
was hopeful we could resolve it before now."
Q:
When did it start?
"It
depends on what you say triggered it. I can remember
having disagreements about things even three months
after the last Cup.
"We've
had formal mediation for a couple of months now.
I'm just looking forward to resolving it and getting
on. The management direction of Team Alinghi, without
going too far into it, there have been differences
of opinion about the way the team should be managed,
as well. We've got some differences, and we're working
pretty hard at resolving them."
Q:
Those differences include your preference of Lisbon
over Valencia as a venue and your preference for
an advanced boat?
"I'm
not going to go into details. What was disputed
. . . there were a lot of things. It's fair to say
it wasn't just one single issue. It was quite a
number of issues. We've been in this mediation process
for awhile, and as of today we haven't managed to
resolve it.
"It's
pretty clear when you read Ernesto's comments and
my comments that we do have different expectations
of what my role should be. That's one of the fundamental
issues."
Q:
Can it still be worked out?
"I'd
have to say it's probably unlikely it'll be resolved.
All options are open right now and I just hope we
can resolve it and go forward with our lives."
Q:
What about the mediation?
"We've
have a professional mediator involved for quite
some time. I actually thought we had a solution
a few weeks ago. Unfortunately, we didn't manage
to take up that solution. I'm still hopeful we'll
come to some sort of agreement, be that to part
ways or whatever."
Q:
Is there another meeting scheduled?
"It's
ongoing. It's good for everyone---our sponsors,
our team---to get this [resolved]. This uncertainty
is not good for everyone."
Q:
Did you decide not to sail on the boat last week
in order to protect your America's Cup options to
possibly go to another team?
"During
the mediation process I informed them many times
as to the reasons why I couldn't sail on the boat,
and those reasons are so that I can protect my position
in this negotiation. That was my decision, and I
made them fully aware of it beforehand."
Q:
On another note, I heard when you were out driving
[the J-boat] Endeavour one day you tried to seduce
Alinghi into an impromptu match race.
(Coutts
laughs) "It was a lot of fun being on Endeavour.
I took some of our sponsors out there. It's a fabulous
yacht . . . a beautiful old boat."
Q:
I hope your golf game hasn't suffered through all
this.
"I
had an 82, which is 39 and 43. I won the money [from]
a guy from Portugal and my father-in-law."
(A
few weeks earlier, as the dispute was building,
Coutts also was interviewed while sailing as a tactician
in the Farr 40 North Americans at Los Angeles. A
brief excerpt follows.)
Q:
How do you survive the stress?
"I
look back on everything that's happened in my career,
and it's all been positive experiences, even the
things like the [BlackHeart] situation in New Zealand.
They're all life experiences you can learn something
from."
Q:
But it couldn't have been pleasant being called
a traitor in your own country?
"How
many yachtsmen have been in a situation where it's
like running into the stadium of the opposing team?
It doesn't happen in our sport. You get booed (laughs)!
In a way, you look back on what might not have been
an enjoyable experience at the time and [realize]
it was valuable . . . one of those things I'll definitely
hope to tell my grandchildren one day.
"There
were times I didn't like it, especially the stuff
that was tied to my family. But I don't think New
Zealanders are really like that. There was a lot
of press over a very small number of people because,
generally, the reception we got in New Zealand was
great. Nobody personally came up and confronted
me."
(A
final question Wednesday.)
Q:
Do you see any possibility of you rejoining Team
New Zealand for 2007?
"I've
gotta get through this first to clear my mind before
I even think about what's next. I'm not sure what's
on the horizon yet.
"I've
got three match racing regattas coming up next month
on the Swedish Match tour which I'm really looking
forward to . . . getting out there and thrashing
around on the water again."
|
