When it comes to world-class sailors, few are as internationally renowned as New Zealand’s Russell Coutts. Claiming the gold at the LA Olympics in 1984, helming his country’s team to victory at the America’s Cup (AC) in 1995, and again in 2000, and subsequently successfully racing with the AC Swiss and then US teams, he’s truly one of the sport’s true figureheads. So when Coutts put his name and his reputation behind a new name in the game; SailGP, it was destined to be a victory on all fronts. In the four years since it was founded however, the competition has far outweighed its expectations, becoming one of the fastest growing spectator sports in the world with the view to build a platform not dissimilar to that of the Formula 1. 

SuperYacht Times caught up with Russell to get an insight into SailGP, which is now in the midst of its third season, and to understand the origin of the championship which has taken the sailing world by storm.What was the origin concept for SailGP, how did the idea begin?

Sailing has never had an annual roster of events, a championship that both the public could engage with, but also that  international athletes could compete in that was professionally televised and that could become a marketing platform for the sport. Sailing has always deserved a broader…