It’s official Russel Coutts has been terminated by Alinghi. Maybe not with extreme prejudice but with some malice in the form of a rule change on the way out the door.

Reason’s given for Coutts dismissal include: “Repeated violations of his duties resulted in Coutts’s dismissal. & undisclosed involvement in the planning and development of a new race series.” This 2nd supposedly with Paul Cayard.

The rule change says that any sailor “contracted, engaged, paid or otherwise engaged” by a team for 180 days since the last cup.” can’t change teams. It is thought that this is in effect the Coutts clause, to prevent Coutts from joining another team.

Coutts issues his own statement. Coutts stated, “I found the
role he increasingly insisted I occupy in the syndicate was at considerable
variance with the one we had discussed.” Further he says that the event he and Cayard have discussed are “exaggerated.”

Coutts now joins Cayard as having been taken off an American Campaign by a billionaire. Cayard during the last cycle by Larry Ellison, Coutts by Ernesto Bertarelli.

Eventually Cayard’s side lining led to his current Star Olympic campaign. In a recent report from Athen’s where he’s training for the August Olympic regatta Cayard wrote, “We are back at the ranch, the BBQ is going strong with Burgers and Yardbird…We have the Stones playing on my sons I Pod speakers system. It doesn’t get much better than this and we get to get up tomorrow and do it all over again.”

Coutts already has an Olympic gold, but maybe he’ll follow Cayard and head for the BBQ/Olympic circuit.

PS Both Cayard and Coutts are + 40. Mick Jagger of the above referenced Stones turned 61 on Monday. Still moves around OK for an older guy, eh?

Share or bookmark this story: