Coutts calls time on America's Cup racing
New Zealander Russell Coutts, five-time winner of the America's Cup, said his involvement in the competition was over
The America's Cup's most successful sailor, New Zealander Russell Coutts, announced Saturday he is walking away from yachting's most glamorous event.
The five-time winner of the oldest international sporting trophy said his involvement in the competition was over, even as his homeland prepares to host the next regatta in 2021.
"I don´t really have any ambitions to continue with the America´s Cup at this point," Coutts told yachtingnz.org.nz.
"I have had quite a few years involved with it - loved it, fantastic event - but there are other things to do in life."
Coutts, 55, has dominated the America's Cup for nearly two decades.
He was skipper for Team New Zealand during their victories in 1995 and 2000, before switching to the Swiss entry Alinghi and winning in 2003.
He then twice oversaw triumphs by Oracle Team USA as their chief executive in 2010 and 2013.
But Coutts' glory days came to an end four months ago when his former sailing partners Team New Zealand regained the Auld Mug from Team USA in Bermuda.
He has since returned home but turned his attention to helping develop junior yachting.
In addition to being a five-time America´s Cup winner, Coutts has twice been named World Sailor of the Year, is a three-time world match racing champion and was the Finn class gold medallist at the 1984 Olympic Games.
Team New Zealand is preparing to defend the Cup in 2021 with a switch to monohulls rather than the hi-tech catamarans used in the last regatta.
On Friday, the New York Yacht Club (NYYC) said it would compete in New Zealand after a 14 year absence from sailing's most prestigious regatta.