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There's not much Sir Russell Coutts hasn't achieved in the sport of modern day yacht racing - from the Olympic Games, Match Racing and America's Cups, he's one of the sport's most successful athletes, but he's also one of sailing's big innovators, a man with a drive and determination to leave his sport in a much better place today, than where it was when he first started competing.
On the race course, Coutts was a fierce and ruthless competitor. His early career saw him win an Olympic gold medal and multiple Match Racing World Championships, before an inevitable move to the world of the America's Cup. He successfully challenged and then defended the oldest trophy in world sport for his home nation of New Zealand, but then shocked the sailing world by moving to Swiss challenger Alinghi. By the time Alinghi lifted the Cup in Auckland, Coutts had won it three times, but remarkably had never lost a Cup match. His Cup career then saw another move, to the American BMW Oracle Team, for whom he masterminded two further Cup wins, the last, in 2013, seeing the famous come back from an 8-1 defecit on 72ft foiling multi hulls out on San Francisco Bay, an event watched by millions world wide.
Away from the race course, Coutts is seen by many as one of sailing's real visionaries. His drive and determination behind the wheel have transposed to the boardroom, where he has been masterminding the advancement of sailing in a bid to increase it's appeal to a younger generation, and make it a truly viable spectator sport. Most recently Coutts has initiated the exciting Sail GP championships, a series of races held in the world's fastest race boats, but run with a view to the maximisation of broadcasting opportunity and spectator experience.
Robertson and Coutts discuss his past, his hopes for the future and his love of the sport in an honest and revealing hour of chat that sees one of the sport's most well known characters clearly demonstrate that after a lifetime spent out on the water, his passion for sailing today is as strong as it's ever been.Support the show
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This is the second part of multiple Olympic medallist Iain Percy's chat with Shirley Robertson, and is a candid and revealing discussion between to ex Team GB team mates who have known each other for decades.
In Part 1 Iain discussed growing up ailing in the golden age of British Youth Sailing, regularly competing against the likes of Ben Ainslie, Chris Draper and close friend Andrew Simpson.
In Part 2, the pair move on to discuss the America's Cup, and Iain's move to Swedish 'Team Artemis Racing'. It was of course during the build up to the 34th America's Cup in San Francisco that Andrew Simpson tragically lost his life in a sailing accident. It's a tragedy that has obviously effected Iain greatly, and here the pair fondly share their memories of the generous and giving 'Bart' in an emotional discussion about their friend and what he brought to the British Sailing Team.
But Percy and Robertson also discuss the importance of the Andrew Simpson Foundation, a sailing foundation created in Bart's memory to continue the generous work and time he put in inspiring children around the world to take up sailing.
In 2017 Iain Percy was team principal at Team Artemis Racing, finalists in the Challenger Series of the 35th America's Cup in San Francisco. Iain speaks openly about his time in the Cup, as well as revealing how today, his determination to continue the momentum of the Cup team has led him to form Artemis Technologies, a company taking the technological advancements forged in sailing and applying them further afield.
This two part podcast is an intimate discussion between two old friends and team mates, and is a revealing look at the professional life of one of British Sailing's most inspiring talents.Support the show
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This month Shirley Robertson sits down for another two part edition - this time talking to her one time Team GB team mate Iain Percy. A double Olympic gold medallist, Percy topped the podium in Sydney 2000 at the beginning of British Sailing's golden era - Robertson and a certain Ben Ainslie also bringing home gold for GB in those Games.
Percy bagged gold again in Beijing in 2008, and then silver at home in London 2012. And it's these years of shared Olympic history that form the foundations of Part 1 of this chat - from their formative sailing years through to sharing digs at the Games in Sydney, Robertson and Percy have much to talk about as they look back on their Olympic years.
This is a candid interview between two good friends, and Iain is open in discussing how much better the thrill of winning felt when part of a crew - his success in China of course achieved with his best friend and team mate Andrew 'Bart' Simpson. The pair went on to win silver in London four years later, and Percy describes in detail the moments that saw their firm grasp on the gold medal suddenly slip away.
This is the first of two episodes of this month's podcast, and it concludes with a brief look at how Iain moved from Olympic sailing into the world of the America's Cup. Part 2 is also available to download and includes an emotional discussion with Robertson about the loss of Iain's best friend Andrew Simpson, who tragically died in the build up to the 34th America's Cup in San Francisco.Support the show
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The second part of Shirley Robertson's in depth chat with British sailing legend Sir Ben Ainslie sees the duo delve deep into the America's Cup, as Ben reveals his thoughts and experiences on a career spent chasing the illusive, oldest trophy in world sport.
Throughout this second part Ainslie and Robertson discuss the Ben's passion for the Cup, and how his early experiences in the Cup world did not go as he had hoped they would. As his experience in the Cup arena grew, his exploits elsewhere in sailing soon put him on the most wanted list, and after the highs of London 2012, Ainslie joined Oracle Team USA, then watched from the sidelines as the team lost race after race to a seemingly unbeatable Emirates Team New Zealand....:"I was in the (chase) boat with Russell (Coutts) and Grant (Simmer) and I remember Russell's phone going off, and it was a bit, you know, slightly held off his ear, and it was pretty obvious it was Larry (Ellison) and he wasn't too happy about what he was seeing, you know. And then he just turned round to me and he said 'You, you'd better get your wet suit on."
Sir Ben Ainslie
Ainslie then goes on to share his version of how the team turned a massive deficit into a famous America's Cup victory, and how lifting the oldest trophy in world sport for an American team, solidified his resolve and convinced him that his future in the sport lay in creating a British team, with a long term goal and vision. His honest and insightful account of the 2013 Cup gives another angle on how this remarkable defence of the Cup unfolded.
The final points of discussion in the podcast relate to Ainslie's current position, leading the British outfit, INEOS Team UK, into the next iteration of the America's Cup. The pair discuss how the initial Team came about, the rigours of raising money for such a financially dependent endeavour, and how lessons learned in the last Cup in Bermuda are helping the effort as the Team prepare for the 36th America's Cup in New Zealand in 2021.Support the show
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The first in a two part discussion between two one time TeamGB Olympic team mates sees Shirley Robertson engaged in frank and honest discussion with Sir Ben Ainslie.
The most successful Olympic sailor of all time, Ainslie won four golds and one silver over an Olympic career that culminated in front of thousands at his home games, London 2012.
Standing atop the podium at the sailing venue in Weymouth, Ainslie accepted his fourth gold medal to draw the line under an Olympic career that had started as a nineteen year old in the 1996 Games in Atlanta, USA. Throughout his early appearances on the world stage, Ainslie often found himself locked in battle with Brazilian sailing maestro Robert Scheidt, and as he recounts those early tussles to his then Team GB team mate Robertson, Ainslie's recall and attention to detail is impressive. One false move, one sloppy tack, and against Scheidt, Olympic success could vanish. In 1996 he fell foul of the wily Brazilian, and had to settle for silver, but four years later, as the gold medal went down to the final race again, a determined and steadfast Ainslie sailed circles around his great adversary, in a display of control and aggression that split the sporting world.
"If you can sail, and get into someone and it's within the rules, and that's not an easy thing to do, that's the game, in my view. And there was quite a lot of controversy about it at the time....from Roger Bannister, he's a hero in England obviously, the first guy to break the four minute mile...and I could understand (the criticism) but it's interesting how the sport's developed.....I think maybe it was a little bit ahead of it's time."
Sir Ben Ainslie celebrates winning Gold at London 2012 - © Rick Tomlinson Photography
Ainslie and Robertson spent three Olympic Games as team mates, twice claiming gold at the same Games, in Sydney and Athens. Their collective recall is therefore insightful, as in this Part 1 of the podcast they unpick Ainslie's Olympic career before reminiscing on Ainslie's final Olympic triumph at London 2012...:
"You can't really beat that can you, a home Games and being able to get a fourth gold medal in front of a home crowd, it was an incredibly special moment. I've always liked that element of being up against it, the tougher the challenge, the more exciting it is. It's a bit of a strange approach, you really shouldn't be looking to make life hard for yourself, but there have certainly been a few occasions where I've managed to do that, and then had that challenge and taken it on and found that rewarding in some kind of perverse way."
Robertson's chat with Ainslie continues for a second part, in which the pair discuss Sir Ben's America's Cup career and how his team is preparing for the 36th America's Cup, in Auckland, New Zealand.Support the show
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This month double Olympic gold medalist Shirley Robertson sits down for a two part podcast chat with the first man ever to sail solo non-stop around the planet, Britain's Sir Robin Knox-Johnston. In this, Part 2 of their discussion, the pair talk about life after the return from Sir Robin's incredible 312 day journey.
Having completed his voyage, and cemented his place in the annals of the history of exploration, Sir Robin's competitive streak soon saw him back on the global race course, and by 1977 he was joint skipper on an entry in the Whitbread Round the World Race, where amongst his crew was a certain Peter Blake. With the announcement of the Jules Verne Trophy, Knox-Johnston and Blake went on to famously form the eventual record holding team, ENZA New Zealand, breaking the established record in 1994 with a 74 day lap of the planet.
Robertson and Knox-Johnston then discuss how a trip with British mountaineer and expedition leader Sir Chris Bonnington inspired an idea that would become the 'open to all' crewed around the world adventure, The Clipper Race. It's a race that has been on going now for over twenty years, and is currently in it's twelfth, a fact that Sir Robin ranks as one of his greatest achievements.
"When I look at all the lives that have benefitted from the Clipper, and the number of those sailors, forty percent of them have never been on a boat before, who have taken up sailing subsequently as their sport, to my mind that is going to rank pretty highly because there's over five thousand people now that have taken the sport up all over the world." states Sir Robin, on being asked by Robertson what he sees as his greatest contribution to the sport.
This edition of the podcast is in two parts and is available to listen to via the podcast page of Shirley’s own website, at www.shirleyrobertson.com/podcast or via most popular podcast outlets, including iTunes, Spotify, Google Podcast and aCast. The podcast is produced and written by Tim Butt - for further enquires, please contact [email protected]
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Double Olympic gold medalist Shirley Robertson sits down for a two part podcast chat with the first man ever to sail solo non-stop around the planet, Britain's Sir Robin Knox-Johnston.
Sir Robin completed his ground breaking voyage in April 1969, after an astonishing 312 days alone at sea. having sailed his thirty two foot ketch 'Suhaili' thirty thousand miles around the planet. The voyage is one of the most documented in sailing, and was part of the famous Golden Globe race, initiated by the British newspaper, The Sunday Times. Nine entrants eventually left to compete in the Golden Globe, but Sir Robin was the only boat that finished, the physical and mental travails of the effort famously proving too much for many of the other entrants.
Sir Robin spent much of his voyage nursing "Suhaili' around the planet, constantly running repairs as the savage effects of months in the ferocious Southern Ocean took a heavy toll. But his trusty craft was more than a match for the brutal southern storms, and it is with deep affection that Sir Robin talks of her now.
"She was a cracking little sea boat, a wave could wash right over and did on a few occasions, she'd just shake herself and bob back up, like a terrier really. I built up a huge affection for Suhaili, a tremendous trust in her, she is simple, she's not complicated. Everything's stronger than it needs to be, everything's thought through. She's very important to me, she's been part of my life since I was 23, and I've done so much with her, she's done so much for me too. I always say any fool could get her around the world, I proved it!"Sir Robin Knox-Johnston onboard 'Suhaili'
Once passed New Zealand, and into the second half of his voyage, a troublesome radio meant Sir Robin struggled to make contact with anyone to inform of his progress, and he was assumed missing until he finally signalled a ship while passing the Azores, just fifteen hundred miles from home. News of his survival hit the front pages, and by the time he steered 'Suhaili' back into the English Channel, he was a household name in the UK. Met by a flotilla of well wishers, the shoreline around Falmouth lined with cheering crowds, Robin Knox-Johnston had become the first man ever to complete the ground breaking voyage.
This edition of the podcast is in two parts and is available to listen to via the podcast page of Shirley’s own website, at www.shirleyrobertson.com/podcast or via most popular podcast outlets, including iTunes, Spotify, Google Podcast and aCast. The podcast is produced and written by Tim Butt - for further enquires, please contact [email protected]Support the show
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Part 2 of this month's Podcast sees double Olympic gold medalist Shirley Robertson go back to her sailing roots as she talks about success and failure with three very different multiple Olympic medallists. T
This edition kicks off with one of the podcast's most requested interviews, as Shirley discusses the remarkable Olympic history with reigning NACRA 17 Olympic champion Santiago Lange of Argentina. Santi discuses the delay in the Games, and how the postponement is effecting his build up, before delving into that incredible Olympic history. Lange has competed at six Olympics, Tokyo will be his seventh campaign, but it was his gold medal win in Rio that is perhaps the most remarkable of Olympic success stories.
Just a year before the Olympic Regatta, Lange was diagnosed with lung cancer, and underwent surgery that put his Olympic dreams in severe doubt, but still managed to sail to victory in what was one of the most popular medal wins of all time.It wasn't until 1988, at the Korea Games, that sailing held it's first ever dedicated Women's Class, sailed in the 470 dinghy. In dramatic and challenging conditions, it was American Lynne Jewel Shore and her helm Allison Jolly that took the win, claiming the only gold medal for an otherwise disappointed US Sailing Team. In her interview with Robertson, Lynne reflects fondly of a rigorous and intense build up to the Games, as the duo tried to prepare for the treacherous Korean conditions...
"I can't watch the footage, I look at it and I think 'what the heck were we doing out there', it really was dangerous conditions, it was crazy. I went there feeling very comfortable and confident that we had done everything we could to be prepared for the moment."
Three of Robertson's interviewees have had their Tokyo 2020 Olympic campaigns completely disrupted by the postponement of the Games to 2021. The podcast wraps up with defending 49er Olympic Champion Blair Tuke, discussing how the postponement allows full concentration on the defence of the America's Cup, and talks about the logistics of running simultaneous Cup and Games campaigns. He delves into his partnership with Pete Burling, how the pair won silver in London 2012, and then didnt lose another regatta, all the way through to claiming gold in Rio by an unprecedented Olympic points margin.Support the show
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This month double Olympic gold medalist Shirley Robertson goes back to her sailing roots as she talks about success and failure with six very different multiple Olympic medallists. The interviews span fifty two years of Olympic competition, feature a total of twelve medals, seven gold, and include some of the biggest names in Olympic Sailing.
The two part podcast kicks off with London 2012 Laser gold medallist Tom Slingsby, and his emotional account of how the surprise of failure in Beijing 2008 drove him to the top of the podium four years later in London. Slingsby's is a fascinating account, starting with his memories of how, while watching Sydney 2000, he resolved to one day stand atop the Olympic podium.
"I'm not the most athletically gifted person, when I started training and sailing I was not a good junior sailor, before the Sydney Olympics, before I dedicated myself to it I finished 61st at the Radial Nationals in 1999, I was mediocre, but I said 'I love this sport, I wanna do it and I'm gonna train and put in the work' and I just felt like a regular kid, I just loved it and dedicated myself to it."British 470 Women's Olympic Champion Hannah Mills tells how disruptive a postponed Olympics has been, having decided to return to defend her crown after her win in Rio 2016.
Mills goes on to reveal to Robertson how the relative disappointment of a silver medal at her home Games in London 2012 really fuelled the determination for herself and crew Saskia Clarke, as they resolved to go the distance one last time together, in a bid to go one better and win in Rio. Mills discusses the Rio regatta, and what finally winning Olympic gold with her best friend meant to the pair as they began to realise their achievement.
From the amateur Olympic era of the 1960s and 70s Robertson then interviews British Olympic sailing legend Rodney Pattisson, a double Olympic gold medallist from Mexico City 1968 and Munich 1972 and a silver medallist from Montreal 1976. Pattisson sailed the Flying Dutchman Class, was a submarine officer in the Royal Navy, and is widely known as being one of the forefathers of the 'no stone unturned' approach to modern Olympic sailing. His tales of fine tuning and optimisation while simultaneously duping his opposition are not just amusing, but also show a ruthless and dogged approach to competition, here explaining a dominant display at the Munich Games of 1972...
"People didn't know I'd built another boat, they still thought it was the old one and I kept that a secret right up until after the Games. It had the same name on the side of the boat, it had the same colours. One of the things I did was that the old, slower boat had had a prang, and so there was a repair inside the boat that you could see on the varnish work, so I copied that repair and anybody that had a suspicion at all looked underneath the stern deck, knew about the collision and thought it had to be the same boat."Support the show
