Olympic champion and America's Cup legend Sir Russell Coutts is on a mission to shatter the slow-moving stereotypes of sailing, transforming it into a heart-pounding, high-adrenaline spectacle for a global audience.
From White Sails to White-Knuckle Racing
Speaking to The West Australian ahead of SailGP's inaugural Fremantle event, the league's CEO explained his vision. Coutts, who co-founded SailGP in 2018 with American billionaire Larry Ellison, wants people to forget everything they think they know about the sport.
"Think racing. Don't think sailboats," Coutts stated. He aims to combat the common image of "white triangles on a blue background and slow" with something far more dynamic. "It's not that, it's racing," he emphasised.
He draws a direct parallel to motorsport, describing the intense action at the start line. "When you get the fleet of boats ripping across leg one towards turning mark one, it's a lot like the first corner of motor racing. It is spectacular. I think people will be blown away."
Building Sporting Tribalism and Lasting Brands
Beyond sheer speed and cutting-edge technology, a core innovation of SailGP was introducing permanent team franchises to sailing—a concept previously absent. Teams representing nations like Australia, the United States, New Zealand, Great Britain, and Canada now compete in a global series for a total prize pot of $19 million.
Coutts highlighted how this creates the sporting tribalism vital for fan engagement. "That didn't exist in the sport of sailing before now," he said, pointing to iconic but now-defunct teams like Australia II from the 1987 Fremantle-based America's Cup.
"Stars & Stripes as a brand isn't racing anymore. That was what was missing... In other sports, if a star player moves on, the brand lives on. That wasn't the case in sailing before SailGP. It's staggering to most people that the sport didn't have that in the past."
Capturing a New Generation of Fans
The strategy is clearly working. Coutts reports that SailGP's growing audience isn't just comprised of traditional sailing enthusiasts. "We're getting a lot of (motor) racing fans watching," he revealed.
This shift in perception is often cemented when spectators experience the event live. "The typical reaction of people when they come along and see a SailGP event is 'I didn't think it'd be anything like this, it's incredible'," Coutts shared.
By combining elite athletes, iconic global venues like Fremantle, and F50 catamarans capable of record-breaking speeds, SailGP is successfully rebranding competitive sailing as an accessible, thrilling, and team-oriented spectator sport for the 21st century.
