Four-time America’s Cup champion Sir Russell Coutts, America’s Cup China Team chairman Wang Chaoyong as well as team CEO Thierry Barot will be present at the upcoming Hainan Rendez-Vous, China’s leading yacht show that is held from April 5th to April 8th at the Visun Royal Marina in Sanya.
As Asia’s largest yacht show last year, the Hainan Rendez-Vous drew over 15,000 visitors from all around greater China, as well as nearly all of the world’s top brands of yachts and superyachts. The event was an historical milestone in the development of recreational boating in China, and this year’s edition will be even larger in scale.
The chance to meet face-to-face with three participants in the world’s oldest international sailing competition will certainly be both thrilling and inspiring to many Chinese yachting enthusiasts at Hainan Rendez-Vous.
In addition to his four America’s Cup titles, Russell Coutts was a gold medal winner in the Finn Class in the 1984 Olympic Games, the winner of three World Match Racing Championships and victor of numerous other international match races. He has a perfect record in America’s Cup racing, with 20 wins to 0 losses. The Cup victories came in the 1995, 2000, 2003 and 2010 of competitions, in which he served, respectively, as skipper of challenger Black Magic; helmsman of defender Team New Zealand; helmsman of challenger Alinghi; and team CEO for challenger BMW Oracle Racing.
Russell Coutts - Photo Credit: Paul Darling
Wang Chaoyong is famous in China as a leading figure in business and finance. He is the founding partner and CEO of ChinaEquity International Holding Co., Ltd., a China-based private equity and venture capital firm. Before founding the company in 1999, he worked in management positions for twelve years in investment banking, including three years as head of Morgan Stanley’s Beijing operations. His love of yachts and sailing is well-known throughout the country.
Thierry Barot brings to the America’s Cup challenger China Team twenty five years of competitive experience in the event. He has finished in top places in many international sailing competitions, and has also had a career in international rugby. Barot served as team manager and sailor on board of China Team Challenger for the 32nd America’s Cup 2007 in Valencia, Spain.
Coutts, Wang and Barot will be present at the Gala Dinner hosted by Hainan Rendez-Vous organisers on April 6th. At that time Coutts will be presented with an honorary award for his achievements.
China’s initial attempt as an America’s Cup challenger in 2006-7 was cause for national pride, but the first priority for the government at that time was to prepare the national sailing team for the 2008 Olympics. The government is providing much more support this time around, including access to the talent pool of Chinese Olympic sailors. The team will contain many more Chinese nationals as a result, and this will undoubtedly contribute to heightened interest in the event within China.
Currently the China Team is at its Sanya base training for the Cup’s Naples World Series, to be held April 7-15, 2012. The America’s Cup 34 Sailing regatta will take place in San Francisco in the summer of 2013.
