All Aboard with Coutts

BMW Oracle’s Wellington-born helmsman Russell Coutts is “matching wits and tacks with Luna Rossa helmsman Peter Holmberg” in the 10-team Pacific Series on the Waitemata Harbour, with 18th man, journalist Christopher Clarey onboard taking notes amidst “soggy, barely controlled chaos.” “During the five-minute prestart … for four minutes, it looks like Luna Rossa is going to get paid. But after taking on heaps of water and nearly washing onboard observer Carla Holgate off the transom, Coutts times it beautifully and snatches the advantage. ‘That was game over unless we made a mistake or broke something,’ Coutts would say. Not even a container ship that passes through the course on the final leg can change the flow of this race. BMW Oracle wins comfortably by 58 seconds.” As a skipper, Coutts has won the America’s Cup three times.