Coutts on the Cup
“I am not saying I have ruled out the America’s Cup, I haven’t, I love the America’s Cup and I miss it.
“I have been thinking about it lately…I think one of the things I would say, this whole retroactive rule change has made me stop and think…is this really the way we want the sport to be going?
“Do we want the America’s Cup to be governed by two guys that all of a sudden get together in a back room somewhere and decide to change the rules for whatever reason?
“No matter how the cup has been governed in the past…maybe it is time to look at a new way of doing it. I think it needs to be more transparent, so we can understand the processes, instead of these back room discussions.
“The other thing I have been thinking about is the whole aspect of the sport’s growth.
“There is still not a clearly defined career path for young sailors to go through and progress through to the higher ranks in the sport.
“If a young sailor, even someone who has gone and won at the Olympics, said to me today, ‘How do I get into the America’s Cup?’ I am not sure I’d be able to give him a clearly defined answer.
“I am wondering if it is time bodies like Isaf (International Sailing Federation) played a greater role.”
“I am not sure it [arbitration] will take a year. I am optimistic it will be dealt with quicker than that.
“The whole retroactive rule, that is an issue that I want to challenge…the way the rule was changed. The first any of the teams heard about it was when it was announced. It just doesn’t seem right to me.”
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