New Zealand sailing legend Sir Russell Coutts believes the new series he's developing will make the sport more mainstream.
Sir Russell Coutts Photo: Photosport
The second season of SailGP is about to get underway with a two-day regatta in Sydney later this month.
SailGP involves national teams in 50 foot foiling catamarans, similar to those used in the 2017 America's Cup in Bermuda.
The competition was founded by Larry Ellison, founder of Oracle, and Coutts, a former Olympic champion and five-time America's Cup winner.
In its first year of competition in 2019, the series consisted of five race meetings and had good public backing.
Coutts wants his event to be similar to other sports where the competition between nations is held over a series of weekend regattas, on an annual basis, with an overall winner at the end of the competition.
Sail GP had an initial television audience of 256 million, while 133 thousand people attended their events on site and the circuit generated an average economic impact for each city of 35 million dollars.
SailGP on Sydney Harbour Photo: PHOTOSPORT
Coutts wants to build on that in 2020 and feels they have the product to do it.
"Our racing is packaged into a 90 minute broadcast window and we pack three races into that window which makes it a very watchable format."
"Sailors, non sailors and general sports fans can understand this racing and the way we're showing it has been a game changer and that hasn't always been the case in sailing."
Six cities around the world will host regattas in 2020 involving seven "national teams" all in exactly the same boat in fleet racing.
The series, which has a $1.5 million prize for the winner, has been dubbed the Formula One of sailing because of the speeds the boats can achieve.
Coutts says he's working on having a New Zealand team involved but it may be a couple of years away.
For now New Zealand is focussed on hosting next year's America's Cup, it'll be the 36th edition of world's oldest regatta.
Coutts won the America's Cup five times, three as a skipper and twice as a team CEO.
He feels a point of difference is that while most of the famous syndicates from the America's Cup no longer exist, that won't be the case with SailGP.
"We've created an entity like other sports where you get teams, they build brand equity, there may be an ownership change, the team gets sold or traded or there are personnel changes, but the team continues to exist."
While he's confident of his new series, what future does he see for the Auld Mug.
Russell Coutts with the America's Cup Photo: PHOTOSPORT
Coutts feels the America's Cup does have history on its side.
"It's governed under a deed of gift and that's how it operates, the winner gets to choose the next rules and when and where it'll be held."
"As we've seen this time there's a change of boats and a change of event format and that's what's happened in its entire history."
SailGP's first regatta is in Sydney on February 28 and 29.
