The trials, July 22-25, will help confirm certain parameters of the new yacht, including reduced crew numbers to place a premium on boat-handling. Not only will the format of racing and type of boat come under scrutiny, but also television production.

The America’s Cup Media Evaluation Team has solicited opinions from a wide array of broadcasters, digital media and technology companies in Europe and the U.S. on how to make the racing more dramatic on-line, on-screen and on TV. Accepted standards of Cup racing are being challenged in the trials and no thought will be ignored in the quest to create the most compelling television production and delivering it to the widest-ever audience.

It’s an interesting process. Many sports have adapted their original format in order to attract a different audience. Twenty-Twenty cricket is the complete opposite of a 5 day Test match and Rugby 7′s opens up the game and makes it quicker, but neither of these formats have replaced the original version at the top level. The Ashes is still a series of 5 Day tests and the Rugby World Cup uses the full complement of players.

This week, the 150 year old Open Championship is being broadcast on the BBC in the UK. Only the most die hard fans care what clubs or balls are being used. The sport is popular because of the personalities – the stars are the players. Personally, I don’t find golf the most interesting televisual experience, but organisers haven’t felt the need to play with the format too much. The Open has a facebook page with over 12,0oo fans and hundreds of men and women are tweeting about the event.  The Open doesn’t see the need to make the game of golf any more interesting or ‘extreme’.

Nevertheless, BMW ORACLE are going to test the waters – literally, to see how the America’s Cup might be able to be made ‘better’. Russell Coutts says:

“We are testing many different concepts. Would making the first leg downwind instead of upwind be better? Can you have exciting boat-on-boat action with multihulls? Are there alternative race course formats which might provide more overtaking opportunities?” “Only by reviewing the accepted wisdom can we decide if there are smarter ways to challenge crews and excite fans.”

The trials will be conducted with two pairs of X40 catamarans and RC44 sloops. 3D and HD cameras will be experimented with to see if the onboard action is more dramatically portrayed, and the race format testing will include downwind and reaching starts.

Guest helmsmen such as Roman Hagara of Austria and Murray Jones of New Zealand will lead the crews aboard the X40s. James Spithill will be at the helm of one of the two RC44 yachts. They will race short-handed, eight-person crews to see if that adds a level of drama to boat handling that would be compelling for television.

More America’s Cup News…

The city was the traditional South American stopover port for the fully-crewed Whitbread Round the World Race during the 1980s and in the following decade, solo sailors in the BOC Challenge pulled into the port at the end of their brutal Southern Ocean leg from Australia. The stopover will be hosted by the Uruguay Ministry of Tourism with the fleet to be based at the prestigious Yacht Club Punta del Este.

Dr. Hector Lescano, Uruguayan Minister of Tourism says:

“It is a great honour that this international event has chosen Punta del Este as the South American stopover. Our national and local authorities are working together to support and coordinate the event and ensure that all requirements for the Race Organisation and racing teams are in place.”

Located at the southern tip of Uruguay on the northern shore of the River Plate, the South Atlantic port of Punta del Este is an attractive prospect for round the world race teams. The town is a popular resort for international holiday makers with the deserved reputation of being the ‘St. Tropez of Uruguay’. With a network of global flight connections for the GOR crews, their teams, friends and families, miles of pristine beaches and a cosmopolitan and relaxed atmosphere throughout the city, there could be no better place for the teams to relax and recuperate after the exacting demands of the Southern Ocean and Cape Horn.

The town also has the required infrastructure and vital services required for carrying out checks, maintenance and repairs to the racing yachts following 6,000 miles of hard sailing through high latitudes. The choice of the Yacht Club Punta del Este as the GOR base is ideal with the vastly experienced team at the YCPE capable of supplying all facilities from an essential travel lift to fibreglass work and a comprehensive range of skilled specialists.

Commodore of the Yacht Club Punta del Este, Horacio Garcia Pastori, has been an enthusiastic advocate of bringing the Global Ocean Race to his Club.

“We have a long history of hosting round the world yacht races and it is with great pleasure that we will be welcoming the organisers and the brave sailors of the Global Ocean Race to our Club”

Race Director, Josh Hall, has personal reasons to be delighted by this announcement.

“Having visited Punta del Este as a solo racer in the 1990-91 BOC Challenge, I know first-hand just how welcoming the Yacht Club Punta del Este members and the people of this remarkable city are. Excellent facilities, fabulous people and a perfect geographic location combine to make Punta del Este a dream stopover for the Global Ocean Race 2011-12, where sailors and sponsors alike will enjoy a very unique experience at every level. We would like to thank The Ministry of Tourism and our long-standing friends at the Yacht Club Punta del Este for granting us this exciting opportunity to bring a highly competitive round the world yacht back to their shores.”

More Class40 News…

Despite generating a large level of enthusiasm and regsitrations from 97 boats, organisers of the Round Australia Rally and Race have cited a lack of logistical and sponsorship support for its cancellation.

Sailing around Australia is not a small undertaking. The country has about 25,000 kilometres of coastline which requires a very fast boat or a lot of time on your hands to complete. The concept has a lot of merit and unsurprisingly there has been expressions of interest and enthusiasm from potential event hosts, councils, ports and yacht clubs.

Organisers say:

Despite exhaustive efforts and the depth of enthusiasm for the inaugural Rally event, it is with deep regret that Ocean Events advises the 165 Rally competitors, their crew and associated supporters who have registered to participate that we have run out of time to secure the logistical and sponsorship support necessary to stage the Rally event in 2011. Whilst there is more time available for the inaugural race preparations there is a need for a similar level of logistical and sponsorship support. We cannot guarantee our 97 Race competitors who have registered to participate that the support will be secured in time to stage the inaugural Race in 2011.

Meanwhile, in the UK, the Shetland Round Britain and Ireland Race 2010 started on Sunday, which took us a little by surprise. This is not the Sevenstar Round Britain and Ireland Race which starts in August, but another round Britain race for tw0-handed crews. The race has a fairly sizable fleet, let out of Plymouth yesterday by Alex Bennett from Devon and Malcolm Dickinson on the Class40 – Fujifilm.

Unfortunately we can’t tell you much more than that because the website has been unavailable for most of the morning. Luckily, some of the competitors are more media savvy with several Twitter hashtags providing some insight.

If you can load it, the website provides a stark example of how far some parts of the sport need to move to become relevant to a modern audience.

Three of the south west’s biggest business names, Charles Stanley Stockbrokers, Clydesdale Bank and Michelmores Solicitors are joining title sponsor Fujiifilm in backing the pair’s race entry and bid to raise £10,000 for local charity Hospiscare.

Speaking on behalf of the new corporate sponsors, Charles Stanley’s Head of Public Relations Magnus Wheatley, said:

“Fujifilm remains the title sponsors with Clydesdale Bank, Michelmores and ourselves joining forces to support a west country crew which is sailing in a world renowned west country organized event in support of an important west country charity.”

Alex and Malcolm have adopted Hospiscare as their chosen charity for the RBI race this year. It is a Devon hospice which provides free-of-charge, high-quality care and dedicated support to people who are terminally ill. The charity is community based in Exeter, mid and east Devon and needs to raise over £4 million this year to continue providing care and support for patients and their families.

Alison Palfrey, Director of Fundraising at Hospiscare, said:

“We are delighted that Alex and Malcolm have adopted Hospiscare as their charity for this high profile event. We shall shortly be announcing some imaginative ways of fund-raising for the general public by following Fujifilm’s progress around Britain and Ireland.”

Alex Bennett added:

“The extra sponsorship from our corporate supporters is invaluable. Malcolm and I are very grateful for their support which we hope to repay both by helping to raise big money for Hospiscare and by winning this great race.”

The RBI race starts from Plymouth on 6th June 2010. Alex and Malcolm will be racing on board Alex’s well known, green, Class 40 yacht Fujifilm. To find out more about Alex and Malcolm’s campaign and the event itself visit www.alexbennett.co.uk Donations for Hospiscare can be made by visiting www.justgiving.com/fujifilmrbandi2010

The Class40 is one of the more innovative classes to come along in recent years. The concept is solid, and many boats have been built, but like many classes caught in the constant proliferation of sailing options, the Class40 has never quite managed to really capture the imagination of a wider audience. Nevertheless, there are lots of racing opportunities for people who want to go sailing in a Class40 and the development of production models is probably a good thing.

To that end, BTBoats Ltd have confirmed a sponsorship agreement with the Global Ocean Race 2011-12 in order to promote their exciting new Class40 production boat – the KIWI 40FC. Based in New Zealand, BTBoats Ltd has been created to market and distribute this exciting New Zealand-designed and New Zealand-built Class40 production yacht.

Farr Yacht Design Ltd and Cookson Boats have been commissioned to provide the design and construction solutions for the yacht with the first KIWI 40FC boats due to be launched in August 2010 for sea-trials in New Zealand.

Josh  Hall, Global Ocean Race Director commented:

“We welcome BTBoats Ltd as a partner sponsor for the race. We already have one KIWI 40FC – an anonymous entry at this stage – signed-up to compete and we know that numerous potential entries are very keen to secure a KIWI 40FC for the race.”

Cookson Boats are building the KIWI 40FC at the company’s Auckland facility where construction of the moulds has already started. Co-founder and Marketing Manager of BTBoats Ltd, Lapo Ancillotti, will be the project co-ordinator. Lapo has a long and successful history of collaboration with Farr Yacht Design Ltd and Cookson Boats. He said:

“We at BTBoats Ltd are closely involved with the Global Ocean Race 2011-12 and we are very pleased to endorse this incredible event which will also provide the ultimate racing platform for our KIWI 40FC.”

Skipper interest in the KIWI 40FC is high and details of the boat can be viewed at www.btboats.co.nz

There are certain things on a boat that are quite important – like ropes. Gleistein is the oldest family-owned industrial enterprise in the Hanseatic city of Bremen, perhaps not the most obvious choice for TEAMORIGIN, the British  Team intending to challenge for the 34th America’s Cup, but Gleistein has been selected as the “Official Rope Supplier” by TEAMORIGIN for 2010.

Gleistein will supply all rigging as TEAMORIGIN prepares its challenge for the world’s oldest and sailing’s most prestigious sporting trophy.

TEAMORIGIN recently announced the appointment of an environmental manger as part of their Race for Change, a partnership with the Carbon Trust tha aims to use sailing to increase awareness about environmental issues. ‘Race for Change’ will create opportunities commercial partners to support the sporting bid as well as demonstrate their commitment to fighting climate change.

Pushing the boundaries of technology while delivering an environmental message is going to be a challenge. While the sport is powered by the wind, the materials used in modern yacht racing are complicated man-made compounds with very long half lives. As the Gleistein website says:

“…High-strength fibres are also extremely versatile and form the basis of our broad range of products…  optically similar, but technically far superior natural fibre substitutes. Real natural fibres now play hardly any role in the yacht ropes sector.”

More…

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Aigle becomes official supplier of technical clothing for Spirit of Canada Ocean Challenges.

More environmental positioning in the announcement that Aigle will provide Derek Hatfield gear for the Velux 5 Oceans Race, which starts in October.

Aigle is actively involved in perpetual recycling and fully support the “Eco Circle” concept, the closed-loop recycling system for certain polyester products. Through recycling, you can help reduce waste and oil consumption. “Eco Circle” reduces energy and carbon-dioxide emissions by one-fifth compared with production or raw polyester material from petroleum. Aigle recognizes its responsibility to protect the environment by committing to minimize the ecological impact, both through behavior, design and development of products.

For more information about Spirit of Canada please visit: www.spiritofcanada.net

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OC Technology Announced as Partner of the Global Ocean Race.

The Global Ocean Race 2011-12 is has entered into a partnership with OC Technology.  Two OC Tracker units will be supplied for each Class40 entered in the Global Ocean Race.

The OC Tracker system uses the constellation of 66 Iridium satellites providing total global coverage for the duration of the race with a delay of between 30 seconds to three minutes at a scheduled reporting time for a yacht’s position, COG, SOG and DTF to be registered on the system’s secure server. The OC Tracker will be linked with the Global Ocean Race Geovoile Race Viewer providing precise data every six hours on the Global Ocean Race website.

Josh Hall, Race Director says:

“With OC Technology onboard as Race Partners we can be sure that our primary safety mechanism is of the highest standards. The massive side benefit of a top quality tracking system is that race followers can watch the event unfold on their screens via the Race Viewer which will show the boat’s positions, tracks and a wealth of other pertinent data.”

More…

In 2009, Hilary, paralysed from the neck down, became the first disabled woman to sail solo around Britain, controlling her boat entirely with her breath using an advanced sip/puff system.

Bainbridge International, along with Jeckells the Sailmakers, will be providing Hilary with the sails she requires for her adapted Class 40 boat to successfully complete the competitive off-shore expedition next year. No stranger to producing sails for high profile campaigns, Bainbridge International has seen their sailcloth used in campaigns such as America’s Cup and the Ellen MacArthur Trust.

Bainbridge International will be working closely with Hilary from now right through to the build up to the start of the race in 2011 and hope that this will be the beginning of a long and successful relationship.

In an innovative move, North Sails will also be designing a new generation of downwind sails that will be specifically for the Global Ocean Race – the GOR Code 5 and the GOR Code 3. The Global Ocean Race NOR (Notice of Race) permits entries to carry up to ten sails, of which four can be constructed in an exotic material. This is a higher allowance than normal Class40 regulations and allows for some advances in sail design tailored for the event.

For Josh Hall, Race Director of the Global Ocean Race, this development represents a major gain for the teams.

“With our policy on sails we believe that our entries will benefit from a speed and reliability standpoint which in fact translates into a safety benefit as well. We expect very close racing at high speeds and breaking sails will only slow an entry down, perhaps dropping behind the rest of the fleet and therefore becoming exposed. We also think that for an around the world race a greater depth of sail choice and sail overlap is required and it is fantastic that North Sails will be designing some exciting new downwind sails specifically for the race.”

Bruno Dubois from North Sails, France said:

“We followed the 2008-09 race with great interest and indeed supplied sail inventory to the winner Beluga Racer as well as other entries. We have had a long-standing relationship with Josh Hall and we are very happy to become an official Race Partner in what will be an amazing event. We are very excited to be able to develop some new sail choices for the race and look forward to working on these with the race organisers and Class40.”

Jason Belben from Sailtek said

‘We are delighted that Ronstan are the official hardware suppliers to the Global Ocean Race fleet and we are looking forward to working with Josh, his team and all the sailors involved.’

Race Director, Josh Hall, commented:

‘Ronstan produce great equipment that is perfectly suited to Class40 boats, especially ones that are heading off around the world. The discount that is being offered to our entries is a very real benefit to them, especially those who are building new boats for the race and we welcome Ronstan to our growing family of quality Race Partners.’

Musto though has re-signed its agreement with the Global Ocean Race 2011-12. Musto will be providing the race organisation with team clothing and offering special terms to all bona fide competitors in the event.

Dick Johnson, Corporate Sales Manager at Musto Ltd, said:

‘We are absolutely delighted to continue our support of Josh Hall, his team and their courageous competitors in the Global Ocean Race 2011-12,’ ‘We plan on keeping the race organisers and their competitors comfortable, dry and warm as they take on the challenges of this incredible event.’

Solo round the world sailor and Race Director of the Global Ocean Race 2011-12, Josh Hall, has had a long relationship with the company.

‘I wore Musto gear throughout my offshore sailing career and Musto were an enthusiastic partner of our first event, so we are extremely pleased to have them onboard for the second edition of what is truly shaping into a modern classic. A round the world race takes competitors through conditions that are extreme at each end of the scale,’ he continues. ‘Searing heat; freezing cold; windless calms and raging storms,’ explained Hall. ‘Shoreside and deep offshore, Musto performs at every level. This partnership will be of great benefit to everyone involved with the Global Ocean Race 2011-12.’