Latest news with #RussellCoutts
Reuters
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Reuters
SailGP rides rising tide with celebrity owners, brands
NEW YORK, June 6 (Reuters) - With new celebrity owners and a bevy of fresh sponsors, SailGP hopes to harness a wave of popularity and take the global sailing championship to the next level as it steers back to New York City to race for a third time this weekend. SailGP announced actors Hugh Jackman and Ryan Reynolds as new owners of Australia's three-time champion team on Thursday, just as the ink was drying on the team's first title sponsor deal with BONDS. Reynolds led beleaguered soccer side Wrexham out of obscurity and into the English second-tier Championship with an injection of marketing wizardry, cash and a popular docu-series that quickly converted legions of American fans. SailGP is hoping for their Wrexham moment, too. "The fact that we can get that sort of involvement in one of the teams is amazing, and they'll have some fun with it too, which is what it's all about," Russell Coutts, the former Olympic champion who co-founded the league, told Reuters. It was the kind of news to which fans have become accustomed, as the operation co-founded by billionaire Larry Ellison catches fire with A-listers and snares more big-name brands six years after its launch. Oscar winner Anne Hathaway joined a female-led consortium that acquired the Red Bull Italy SailGP Team last week, while the competition itself named Rolex its title sponsor in November. More than 200,000 ticketholders watched SailGP events last year, as the league reported strong growth in social media engagement, snaring younger fans. The competition expanded to 12 teams for season five, with the addition of Brazil and Italy, and announced its new docuseries last month, part of a new content development push. "We had so many sort of naysayers out there saying this is like another sailing league, it'll be gone in two years, people have tried this and done it before, it never works and SailGP has totally broken down those boundaries," said Tom Slingsby, the CEO and driver for the Australian team. The 2012 Olympic gold medallist, whose team was rebranded as the BONDS Flying Roos, said he could not have imagined five years ago his team signing an iconic brand like BONDS, as they mull potential documentary options with Jackman and Reynolds. "I would have said that's not possible. There's no chance," he said. "But here we are." The leaders in the SailGP standings are not the only winners in the sponsorship race: On Monday, the U.S. SailGP team announced Amazon has signed on as a sponsor, joining existing brands like Tommy Hilfiger and T-Mobile. "You're starting to see really big brands come in and spend money in our sport," said Mike Buckley, the CEO and strategist for the U.S. SailGP team. "We're on everybody's radar now." Buckley put his money where his mouth is in 2023, helping lead a group of investors in the purchase of the U.S. team, locking in early for the league that hopes to become the "F1 of sailing". "Larry Ellison and Russell Coutts had a vision to build a TV product that the average racing fan would spend 90 minutes paying attention to," he said. "And I think they've done just that." The New York Sail Grand Prix is set for June 7-8.
CNBC
4 days ago
- Business
- CNBC
SailGP CEO Russell Coutts on the business of boating: We've got a bright future
SailGP co-founder and CEO Russell Coutts joins 'Squawk Box' to discuss this weekend's Mubadala New York Sail Grand Prix, the business of boating, growth of SailGP, and more.
RNZ News
12-05-2025
- Sport
- RNZ News
Wingsail issue fixed ahead of New York SailGP
Australia SailGP Team helmed by Tom Slingsby are attended to by their support boat and the safety teams after the main wing broke during San Francisco Grand Prix, 2025. Photo: PHOTOSPORT Repairs and upgrades to all 12 wingsails on the F50 catamarans will be completed in time for the New York Sail Grand Prix, SailGP said on Monday. SailGP cancelled its Rio event last month due to a wingsail defect which was identified after the Australian boat's wing collapsed in San Francisco in March. "These new components for the wingsails feature an Aluminum Nomex core and increased laminate, which means the new shear webs will be approximately twice as strong," SailGP CEO Russell Coutts said in a statement. "It's a huge team effort, but our fans can expect all twelve teams back on the race course when racing kicks off in New York." The operation, shared between American Magic's Florida workshop and SailGP Technologies in the UK, has seen teams extract compromised components, refit electronics, and prepare each hull for exhaustive sea trials. With a strict one-design ethos underpinning the league's competitive integrity, the May 3-4 Rio event was cancelled, ensuring no team gained or lost advantage as the refit progressed. The event will resume at the New York Sail Grand Prix on June 7-8, its final North American stop before the European leg begins in July. Australia, skippered by Tom Slingsby, lead the season's standings with 39 points after five races, one ahead of Dylan Fletcher's Britain, with Diego Botin's Spanish team third. New Zealand is fourth. SailGP is the global sailing championship featuring national teams competing in identical, high-performance F50 foiling catamarans that can reach speeds over 50 knots (93 kph). -Reuters
Straits Times
12-05-2025
- Sport
- Straits Times
Wingsail issue fixed ahead of New York SailGP
Repairs and upgrades to all 12 wingsails on the F50 catamarans will be completed in time for the New York Sail Grand Prix, SailGP said on Monday. SailGP cancelled its Rio event last month due to a wingsail defect which was identified after the Australian boat's wing collapsed in San Francisco in March. "These new components for the wingsails feature an Aluminum Nomex core and increased laminate, which means the new shear webs will be approximately twice as strong," SailGP CEO Russell Coutts said in a statement. "It's a huge team effort, but our fans can expect all twelve teams back on the race course when racing kicks off in New York." The operation — shared between American Magic's Florida workshop and SailGP Technologies in the UK — has seen teams extract compromised components, refit electronics, and prepare each hull for exhaustive sea trials. With a strict one-design ethos underpinning the league's competitive integrity, the May 3–4 Rio event was cancelled, ensuring no team gained or lost advantage as the refit progressed. The event will resume at the Mubadala New York Sail Grand Prix on June 7-8, its final North American stop before the European leg begins in July. Australia, skippered by Tom Slingsby, lead the season's standings with 39 points after five races, one ahead of Dylan Fletcher's Britain, with Diego Botin's Spanish team third. SailGP is the global sailing championship featuring national teams competing in identical, high-performance F50 foiling catamarans that can reach speeds over 50 knots (93 kph). REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
The Star
12-05-2025
- Sport
- The Star
Sailing-Wingsail issue fixed ahead of New York SailGP
(Reuters) -Repairs and upgrades to all 12 wingsails on the F50 catamarans will be completed in time for the New York Sail Grand Prix, SailGP said on Monday. SailGP cancelled its Rio event last month due to a wingsail defect which was identified after the Australian boat's wing collapsed in San Francisco in March. "These new components for the wingsails feature an Aluminum Nomex core and increased laminate, which means the new shear webs will be approximately twice as strong," SailGP CEO Russell Coutts said in a statement. "It's a huge team effort, but our fans can expect all twelve teams back on the race course when racing kicks off in New York." The operation — shared between American Magic's Florida workshop and SailGP Technologies in the UK — has seen teams extract compromised components, refit electronics, and prepare each hull for exhaustive sea trials. With a strict one-design ethos underpinning the league's competitive integrity, the May 3–4 Rio event was cancelled, ensuring no team gained or lost advantage as the refit progressed. The event will resume at the Mubadala New York Sail Grand Prix on June 7-8, its final North American stop before the European leg begins in July. Australia, skippered by Tom Slingsby, lead the season's standings with 39 points after five races, one ahead of Dylan Fletcher's Britain, with Diego Botin's Spanish team third. SailGP is the global sailing championship featuring national teams competing in identical, high-performance F50 foiling catamarans that can reach speeds over 50 knots (93 kph). (Reporting by Pearl Josephine Nazare in Bengaluru and Ossian Shine, editing by Ed Osmond)
