The first time Doug DeVos and John “Hap” Fauth set out to conquer sailing’s America’s Cup, their nine-figure project could hardly have gone worse: The boat capsized and nearly sank.
Three years later, DeVos and Fauth are trying again.
Both men have plenty of experience with ambitious turnarounds. DeVos is the co-chair of Amway and his family owns the National Basketball Association (NBA) team Orlando Magic. Fauth founded The Churchill Companies, a private investment firm whose holdings range from real estate to agricultural technology. And both have run world-champion sailing programs.
But the Cup is different. It entails a multiyear sprint to build a racing boat on the cutting edge of engineering and agreed-upon rules in order to defeat a series of similarly innovative speed demons head-to-head. Only then does a team earn the right to a showdown with the defending champs.
No American boat has won the silver ewer, known as the Auld Mug, since Larry Ellison and Oracle Team USA’s comeback victory over New Zealand in 2013. And not only are DeVos and Fauth hoping to add their names next to those of previous syndicate bosses like J. Pierpont Morgan, Harold S. Vanderbilt or Ted Turner, they also want to build a durable operation to keep the team, and country, in contention over the long haul.
The big change they had in mind? Make American Magic even more like a pro sports team than before, DeVos said. Today, there is a new boat and another budget that exceeds $100 million. There is a new chief executive. There is a new U.S.-centered design team, new talent on the sailing roster and a new 63,000-square-foot home base in Pensacola, Fla.
🔗 Read more from Aaron Kuriloff: https://lnkd.in/eYawX2yB
