America's Cup Biographies

AUCKLAND, New Zealand (AP) -- Helmsmen, navigators and tacticians announced by Team New Zealand and Alinghi for the 31st America's Cup starting Saturday (with position, name, nationality and age followed by summary of experience):

Alinghi, Switzerland

Skipper: Russell Coutts, New Zealand. 41. Cup experience: Team New Zealand 1987, 1992, 1995, 2000. General: Considered the best America's Cup sailor of the moment, a winner in 1995 and 2000 with a 46-1 record in Cup races. He has the unique distinction of being an Olympic gold medalist, a world champion and an America's Cup winner. Coutts skippered Team New Zealand's challenge in San Diego in 1995 and its defense in Auckland in 2000. He quit in May, 2000 to join Alinghi.

Strategist: Jochen Schuemann, Germany. 48. Cup experience: FAST 2000, Switzerland, 1999/2000. General: A sailing great in Germany, the winner of Olympic gold medals in Montreal in 1976 (Finn class), Seoul in 1988 and Atlanta in 1996 (Soling). He won a silver medal in soling at the 2000 Sydney Olympics and has won three world championships. Schuemann was helmsman for the Swiss FAST2000 syndicate in the 2000 America's Cup. He is Alinghi's sports director and, at 48, its oldest sailor.

Tactician: Brad Butterworth, New Zealand. 43. Cup experience: New Zealand 1987, 1992, 1995, 2000. General: One of New Zealand's finest sailors and Coutts' lieutenant throughout his America's Cup career. Butterworth is a quietly-spoken but shrewd tactician who learned to sail on the Hauarki Gulf. He knows the waters, the winds and tides of the race area intimately. A winner of the Admiral's Cup and Whitbread Round the World race who left Team New Zealand with Coutts three years ago.

Navigator: Ernesto Bertarelli, Switzerland. 37. Cup experience: none. General: the founder and chief backer of the Alinghi team and an accomplished sailor. Bertarelli is a graduate of the Harvard business school who turned his family's modest pharmaceutical company into Europe's largest biotech concern. Says sailing gives him the chance to break away from his corporate responsibilities to mix with "real people".

Team New Zealand

Skipper: Dean Barker, New Zealand. 29. Cup experience: Team New Zealand training squad 1995. Team New Zealand 2000. General: The young man on whose shoulders the hopes of all New Zealanders rests. Barker was Russell Coutts' back-up helmsman and protege through the 2000 Cup. On the last raceday of the 30th Cup match three years ago, Coutts stepped back and handed Barker the helm. His gesture symbolized the passing of the team captaincy to a new and younger man. A former youth world champion, Barker excelled in dinghies before joining Coutts on the world match racing circuit.

Strategist: Peter Evans, New Zealand. 42. Cup experience: Team New Zealand, 1992. Nippon Challenge, Japan, 1995. Team New Zealand, 2000. General: A key man in the Team New Zealand sailing organization, one of its most experienced members yet almost unknown in his own country. Evans is a quiet achiever who grew up near the Hauraki Gulf. He is the winner of more than a dozen New Zealand titles and has competed at Olympics and world championships.

Tactician: Hamish Pepper: New Zealand. 31. Cup experience: Team New Zealand, 2000. General: When Dean Barker sailed as Team New Zealand's backup helmsman during the 2000 America's Cup, he had Pepper at his shoulder. When he became skipper on the departure of Russell Coutts, he again called Pepper to his side. The pair raced together in lasers and cemented their friendship in 1991 when they traveled Europe in a camper van, competing in regattas at each stop.

Navigator: Mike Drummond, New Zealand. 40. Cup experience: Team New Zealand, 1987, 1992, 1995, 2000. General: Drummond is not only Team New Zealand's first-string navigator but one of its two principal designers. His 18 years of America's Cup experience also make him on of New Zealand's most experienced sailors. Drummond was a part of New Zealand's America's Cup teams from the first, signing up in 1985 for the nation's inaugural campaign in Fremantle.

 

Related information

Stories

SI.com's America's Cup Coverage

Multimedia

Visit Video Plus for the latest audio and video