By JULIE ASH
Chris Dickson was about 16 the first time he came across Russell Coutts.
Dickson was representing Auckland West in the 1977 Tanner Cup (the P class interprovincial championships) while Coutts was sailing for Otago.
"I knew who Russell Coutts was after the first race because there was a light
blue boat from Otago that did a really bad mark. It opened the door right up so I rounded inside," Dickson recalls.
"Then this light blue boat from Otago gybed on to port and crossed in front. I clipped the back end as I tried to avoid this guy that was out of control from Otago.
"He flew a little red flag and this guy from Otago threw me out of the first race of the Tanner Cup.
"It was Russell Coutts, so from then on I knew who Coutts was."
Dickson went on to win the Tanner Cup and the interclub championship, the Tauranga Cup, that year. Coutts was second in both.
"We were in the same team to the youth worlds in Texas, I think it was. Russell was sailing in the Laser, in the single-handed, and I was sailing in the double-handed with Sean Reeves. The coach was Harold Bennett.
"The four of us got on the aircraft and hung out together.
"I have a lot of respect for what Russell has achieved over the years.
"He has won the last two America's Cups with Brad [Butterworth] and Murray [Jones] and Simon [Daubney], and so on.
"We bump into each other in the coffee shop in Takapuna occasionally, but we don't hang out together."
Next Saturday, Dickson's Oracle BMW Racing line up against Coutts' Alinghi in a best-of-nine series in the final of the Louis Vuitton challenger series.
The successful syndicate wins the right to challenge Team New Zealand for the America's Cup next month. For Alinghi, the challenger series has pretty much been plain sailing.
They finished at the top of the table after the double round-robin competition before blitzing Prada 4-0 in the quarter-finals and Oracle 4-0 in the semis.
For Oracle, the road has not been quite as smooth. After their first nine races in the double round-robin competition they had five wins and four losses.
The results saw Oracle boss Larry Ellison reinstate Dickson, who had been removed from the sailing team last year amid speculation about friction within the team.
"Larry brought me back into a steering role. He thought there was more potential in the team and in the boat that was being realised, and he brought me in to get results," Dickson said.
"He didn't bring me in to have a good time, he didn't bring me in to make peace with anyone. He brought me in to evaluate and improve the score sheet. Simple."
Immediately after his return, Oracle won 11 races on the trot and went from having little to no chance of making the final to becoming strong contenders to win the cup.
Now the only thing stopping Oracle advancing to the America's Cup match is Alinghi.
The loss to the Swiss syndicate meant Oracle had to compete in the semifinal repechage against OneWorld, which they won easily 4-0.
"I saw Alinghi sail better than I had seen them sail previously." Dickson said.
"It was clear that to beat them we needed to be better than we were.
"We've moved on. We've worked on our weaknesses, we've grown and developed, and our boats are quicker - both of them.
"If Alinghi are where they were a month ago I would put money down 5-0 for Oracle. But they won't be.
"I expect Alinghi to be up there not making mistakes. I expect them to have no real weaknesses, anywhere.
"Against OneWorld, we got in front through - on some occasions - our strengths and some occasions through their weaknesses. To be in front of Alinghi, it will need to be because of our strengths, not because of them making errors."
Dickson said both Oracle boats, USA76 and USA71, would be measured and ready for the final.
"Because we are really happy with USA76, we have made significant changes to USA71 and we'll see how they go next week.
"If we can find something that makes USA71 leapfrog USA76, then we'll go and race USA71.
"Yes, we will have all of our hardware out there. Does that mean there is nowhere else to go? No. Every month that goes by we get better."
Competing in his fourth America's Cup, it is the second time Dickson has made the challenger series final.
In 1987, he skippered New Zealand's first cup challenger, KZ7, winning 37 of 38 matches.
The challenge was brought to a halt, however, by Dennis Conner, who went on to regain the cup.
"I don't look back and say 1987 was a great success. We weren't the challengers and we didn't win the America's Cup.
"I didn't go to Fremantle [just to] participate in the America's Cup, neither did Michael Fay.
"My experience in this America's Cup will live with me as long as I live, and the result we achieve will live with us as long we live.
"So for me to be able to look back in two months or two years from now and say I did, or we did, every possible thing we could to win that cup, and if we did it again we would do the same thing because we did everything we possibly could, I'd get a lot of satisfaction out of that."
nzherald.co.nz/americascup
Racing schedule, results and standings
By JULIE ASH
Chris Dickson was about 16 the first time he came across Russell Coutts.
Dickson was representing Auckland West in the 1977 Tanner Cup (the P class interprovincial championships) while Coutts was sailing for Otago.
"I knew who Russell Coutts was after the first race because there was a light
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