Coutts and Butterworth to represent New Zealand

Ian Grant looks forward to Hamilton Island Race Week

Bad Boys of New Zealand yachting Russell Coutts and Brad Butterworth have returned to represent their country of origin in the 2003 Hahn Premium Race Week conducted from the International resort of Hamilton Island.

The duo considered by fanatical New Zealand sporting fans as defectors will be returning to race for their country for the first time since winning the America's Cup for the Swiss Alinghi syndicate in February.

Coutts, a Los Angeles Olympic Gold Medalist and the only helmsman to win the America's Cup for two different countries, will be the principal steerer while master tactician Brad Butterworth is in charge of race strategy aboard the high performance New Zealand sloop Georgia.

The sailing skills of the Coutts/Butterworth combination speak for themselves however the racing waters surrounding the Whitsunday Islands are far different to those on Hauraki Gulf and this willpresent a number of hidden challenges for the high profile team on the James Farmer-owned New Zealand sloop.

Georgia has contested Australia’s Premier Race Week at Hamilton Island before and has never won the prestigious trophy regarded as the symbol of supremacy in southern hemisphere fleet yacht racing.

At the moment both Coutts and Butterworth are free of any major America's Cup commitments and are keen to patch up some old wounds with a successful regatta in Georgia.

The course to glory will not be a clean cut affair for the master sailing team on Georgia as unstable light winds have settled over the Whitsunday Island region and are expected to turn the 23nm Lindeman Island race today into a tactician’s nightmare.

Sure Georgia’s ‘top guns’ have shown they can fire the top shots in the heat of the battle but they will need to have their ‘heads’ tuned in to the tricky tide and wind associated with developing race winning boat speed.

How they will compare against the top Australian yachts including the defending Hahn Premium Race Week champion and 2002 Rolex Sydney Hobart race winner Quest skippered by Bob Steel of Sydney will only be revealed when they finish the 23n/ml Lindeman Island race tomorrow.

Quest, Matt Allen’s Ichi Ban, Ticket of Leave (Kevin Wood) and the impressive new sloop Joe (Steven David) are all well prepared to go head to head with Georgia in what promises to be the most exciting battle for the major trophy in the 20 year history of the International series.