TAGS: ANDROID, BLUQUBE, CLASS 40, GLOBAL OCEAN RACE, IPAD, IPHONE, JOSH HALL, SAILING GAME, UNITED GAMES

The Global Ocean Race continues to announce partners and sponsors as the race date approaches. The race will be receive backing from bluQube and Alfa Romeo.

bluQube continues sailing sponsorship comitment via Global Ocean Race

Accounting software company, bluQube, will continue its close relationship with offshore, shorthanded sailing through sponsorship of the double-handed, Class40 Global Ocean Race 2011-12 (GOR).

bluQube has sponsored former Raymarine YJA Sailor of the Year, Katie Miller, following her win in the bluQube Solo 1000 Race in 2008. bluQube also continue to support the 2005 OSTAR winner and 2008-09 Vendée Globe competitor Steve White. The company say that sailing sponsorship delivers them a 500% return on investment.

Marketing Manager at bluQube, Matthew Kirby comments:

“We have been involved in sailing sponsorship for over six years now, supporting ventures such as The Global Challenge and solo sailors including Vendée veteran Steve White and the OSTAR’s youngest ever female competitor, Katie Miller. In the past, we have seen significant commercial returns from sailing sponsorship through greater awareness, corporate hospitality and enhanced relationship building,” Kirby continues. “We see the Global Ocean Race as the next step in our sponsorship plans, providing an exciting vehicle to capture the imagination of existing and prospective customers.”

bluQube has also dabbled in activation of their sailing sponsorships through viral videos and other ways of communicating the message. Kirby confirms that bluQube’s involvement with the GOR goes far beyond branding and banners:

“Up to, during, and after the race, we will be keeping in close contact with individual teams and sharing their stories and experiences with our ever-widening audience. Sailing sponsorship allows us to widen the appeal of the brand, especially due to the affinity between the sport and our target audience of senior business decision-makers. From a brand perspective, the race also perfectly mirrors our values of dedication, teamwork, fun, speed and cutting-edge technology. What our sponsorship of the Global Ocean Race in particular gives us is a really dynamic and unique event that allows us to demonstrate our brand values outside of the accounting and finance worlds.”

GOR Race Director, Josh Hall commented:

“We are delighted to welcome bluQube to support the race. From previous bluQube campaigns, I know the level of enthusiasm they always demonstrate and this is reflected in their unequivocal commitment as a sponsor. The appeal of sailing is truly global and we understand why bluQube recognises the Global Ocean Race as a great fit for the types of organisations they want to target. They also understand that you get out of the sponsorship what you put in, and consequently bluQube has become synonymous with sailing over the last few years. We expect a fleet of over 15 boats to cross the startline in Palma, Mallorca, this September and it is very exciting to have bluQube by our side for the pre-race build up and the nine-month circumnavigation.”

More Sailing Sponsorship news

Of all yacht racing sponsorships, sailing clothing and apparel is one that perhaps has the most direct return on investment. But the sailing clothing market is getting crowded and high-street brands that have nothing to do with sailing are also using nautical themes to sell to a wider audience that specialist brands are trying to attract.

The Global Ocean Race has announced that Helly Hansen will become the official clothing sponsor of the race for 2011-12.

Helly Hansen also sponsor Sweden’s, Magnus Olsson, the Ericsson Racing Team during the 2008-09 Volvo Ocean Race and French solo sailor, Thomas Coville, during his solo round the world record attempt on the 32 metre maxi-trimaran, Sodebo.

As with most clothing sponsorship deals – sailors will receive discounts and race personnel will receive clothing.

Emma Russell, UK Marketing Manager at Helly Hansen said:

‘We are extremely proud to be supporting the GOR,’ commented Russell. ‘Helly Hansen is renowned for protecting professionals who live and work in some of the most extreme environments known to man,’ she continues. ‘As a technical brand, we continue to learn from the feedback from these professionals, providing assurance to the consumer that our kit has been put through its paces by those that need it the most.’

Josh Hall, Race Director of the GOR added:

‘We are delighted to welcome Helly Hansen aboard for the GOR,’ says Hall. ‘Staying warm and dry in highly practical, technical clothing is an essential ingredient for success with an offshore racing campaign, and with Helly Hansen we could not wish for a better or more enthusiastic partner for our skippers in this important area.’

The sailing clothing and apparel market varies around the world, and a global race with several stops, allows a clothing brand to promote their products to new markets. Brands like Sail Racing, who sponsor the World Match Racing Tour and MarinePool who back the Extreme Sailing Series are using the global nature of events to reach new customers.

More sailing clothing and apparel sponsorship news

Yacht racing in the Caribbean will benefit from the return on the Voiles de Saint-Barth in 2011. The race will run from the 4th to 9th April and organisers are planning to build on the success of the maiden event. The race invites many superyachts and maxis from all over the world to compete. Class 40 yachts have also been invited to compete. The growing offhshore monohull class attracted over 40 entries for the Route du Rhum and would swell the numbers for the Voiles de Saint-Barth significantly.

François Tolède, Luc Poupon and the whole team of organisers are working hard to promote the Voiles de Saint-Barth with the help of Peter Holmberg, a sailor based in the US Virgin Islands. Holmberg, an Olympic medallist and America’s Cup winner, took part in the very first Voiles de Saint-Barth sailing aboard the 114 foot ketch Sojana.

Organisers hope to attract 60 boats to the yacht race, with 25 boats already signed up.

Watchmaker Richard Mille will once again be the headline sailing sponsorship partner. Sportswear specialist Gaastra will become a new official partner joining Taittinger champagnes, whose presence at the prize giving last spring helped win over many of the sailors taking part. Other partners include The Banque des Antilles Françaises, the Guanahani & Spa hotel, the St Barth Hoteliers’ Association and the St Barth Tourist Board.

Bringing together so many elegant high performance racing yachts in the spring in the Caribbean is an attractive proposition. Maxi yachts and superyachts are included on the invitation list alongside classic yachts. In the United States, specific measures being put in place to attract North American owners.

More Caribbean Yacht Racing News.

There are times when the fragmentation of the sport of sailing really come into perspective. While only 5 Eco 60 yachts sailed out of La Rochelle last Sunday for the start of the Velux 5 Oceans Race, the Route du Rhum boasts over 50 Class 40 boats on its start list.

Richard Tolkien’s Class 40, will be sponsored by ICAP, backers of Mike Slade’s record breaking supermaxi Leopard. Tolkien’s Class 40 yacht will be known as ICAP Orca.

A former banker and a sailor with more than 20 years experience in short handed ocean races, Tolkien has completed in five transatlantic races, including a sixth placing in the single handed Plymouth to Newport race and an 11th in the Transat Jacques Vabre. He has achieved most success in the six Round Britain Races he sailed in, winning the event in 1998. He commented:

“The Route du Rhum is one of sailing’s great races which I have wanted to take part in for many years. Racing in the Class 40 division will be very challenging with 45 boats entered, sailed by some of the leading professional skippers. The sea will pose a thorough test and inspire us all. I am very grateful to ICAP for making this possible for me.”

Mark Yallop, COO, ICAP PLC said:

“The Route du Rhum is an immense challenge and we are delighted to be supporting such an accomplished sailor in this demanding international event. We wish Richard the best of luck!”

More Route du Rhum News…

We get a bunch of emails and press releases announcing new sailing events and races. In the main, we we don’t get past the first paragraph before deleting. The sport of sailing is full of entreprenerial promoters who just don’t understand that every new event canibalises and fragments an already complicated ‘industry’.

There are opportunities though, and we like the thinking employed by Manuka Sports in the development of the Atlantic Cup.

Buried at the bottom of the announcement for the race for Class 40 yachts is this statement:

Having sailed professionally and worked on some of the biggest sporting events in the world, the creators of The Atlantic Cup have watched professional sailing grow in popularity around the world, however interest has not been as strong in the United States. They realized that professional sailing in the United States has remained a secondary sport largely because there is a lack of races that are sponsor driven, have mass media attention, professional competitors and award prize money.

Not only have the promoters thought about their market, the choice of boat for the Atlantic Cup is also well considered. The Class40 is growing in popularity, but with a little bit more commercial thinking could be very successful.

And so to the Atlantic Cup which is a brand new Class40 sailing race that will kick off from New York Harbor on May 7th, 2011. Competitors will sprint double-handed to sailing hub, historic, Newport, Rhode Island. There will be a $15,000 prize purse, which is one of the largest purses for professional sailing in the United States.

The 2011 race will showcase the top Class40 sailors in the U.S. over a 240 nautical mile offshore course, but there will also be inshore racing. The Atlantic Cup Champion will have to win a two-day, inshore series with a crew of six. The combined overall winner of both stages will be the very first Atlantic Cup Champion.

The Atlantic Cup will be presented by sponsor – 11th Hour Racing. 11th Hour Racing’s mission is to sail fast, promoting sustainable practices on our oceans. To minimize our impact during this event, The Atlantic Cup will be run as a ‘Clean Regatta’ utilizing hydro-generators and bio diesel to power the race boats.

11th Hour Racing’s program director, Jeremy Pochman said:

”We’re very much looking forward to being a part of The Atlantic Cup and we hope the race will sail fast, making our waters cleaner one degree at a time.”

Founder and Managing Partner of Manuka Sports Event Management, Hugh Piggin, stated:

“The 2011 Atlantic Cup will be the first annual race Manuka plans to produce with the goal of promoting and growing the sport of professional offshore sailing in the United States. There is a terrific base of short-handed sailors right here and we want to give them an opportunity to showcase their skills.”

The Atlantic Cup might go down as just another sailboat race, but it deserves to succeed. It’s not a world conquering plan that tries to be the ‘F1 of sailing’ overnight, but a manageable event that could grow into something quite interesting.  The organizers of The Atlantic Cup, therefore, came together to fill the void and create a top-level premier sailing race in the United States. The goal is to produce hard fought, intense sailing competitions featuring the top U.S. and international short-handed sailors. The races will be surrounded by entertaining, engaging events that will engage the casual fan’s interest and grow a new generation of sailing fans and enthusiasts.

More Class 40 News…

A sports marketing expert at the Extreme Sailing Series in Cowes Week this year turned to me and said, “Wow – that is a lot of branding real estate!” It’s true. Racing sailboats have a substantial amount of space for sponsors that can be measured in square metres rather than centimetres when compared to an F1 car. There have been some great boat liveries, like Hugo Boss and Puma, but many other boat paint-jobs are pretty tame.

British sailor Pete Goss MBE has joined forces with title sponsor DMS plans to use his return to solo ocean racing to communicate a message of PACK IT IN! It’s a serious environmental message about plastic packaging, using boat graphics the like of which he claims have never been seen before in ocean racing.

Goss will  compete in the gruelling 3500-mile Route du Rhum race in the Class 40 category. He is confident in his abilities to get a good result while inspiring race fans about the possibilities of changing business and consumer habits via the boats jaw-dropping graphics.

The boat (named DMS) showcases specially commissioned artwork from one of the UK’s leading street art duos and captures DMS’s experiences of reducing plastic packaging throughout their business of Creative Packaging Solutions and supplying CD, DVD and Vinyl Records to the music and creative industries.

Commenting on the race and partnership with DMS, Pete Goss said

‘I’m very excited about competing in the Route du Rhum, it’s a major fixture on the racing calendar which sees more than a quarter of a million spectators at the start cheering the field on. Weather permitting, I’m expecting to complete the race in around 21 days. It’s fantastic to have the support of DMS and I’m over the moon with the boat graphics, it truly is a first in the sailing world and I’m sure it will prompt business leaders and consumers to consider more ethical purchase decisions on their creative packaging.

As ocean sailors we’re more aware of the issues of plastic pollution in the world’s oceans than others. PACK IT IN! is designed to make people consider the simple solutions we can all take to stop a huge problem becoming even larger’.

Speaking about his pro-active business approach, DMS Managing Director Dave Summers said

‘Over the past 10 years we have built up a global business that now produces more than 2500 individual releases per year from independent artists through to multinational blue-chip companies. This results in millions of individual records and packaging units, which up until 2008 we manufactured in 90% plastic.’ Since 2008 DMS have offered a full range of low-carbon creative packaging solutions which have become increasingly popular with both their clients and the end user. Summers continued, ‘Currently, only 10% of our total packaging output contains plastic and we’re aiming to eliminate all plastic packaging by 2012.’

Created by leading street artists Danny Capozzi and Phil Rees, contemporaries of guerrilla street artist Banksy, the PACK IT IN! artwork allows urban art to set sail on a dramatic new canvas.

Speaking about the PACK IT IN! artwork Danny said:

‘It’s great to be able to work on such a large-scale mobile canvas that will be viewed the world over. Often art is confined to the space and audience for which it is commissioned, but PACK IT IN! has got some serious miles ahead of it and will be spreading an important message throughout its journey, plus it’s really exciting to push the boundaries of sailing livery.’ When asked about the central character of the design Phil said ‘Barney is a neptune-esque character, the ultimate Eco Warrior from the deep who is fed up with plastic packaging littering his oceans and he’s there to strike fear into the hearts of the ignorant, and maybe even some of Pete’s competitors!’

More Route du Rhum News…

The Defender of the America’s Cup BMW ORACLE will test both monohull and multihull boats using a series of TV trials over four days in Valencia. The aim is to develop methods for making the racing more enthralling for fans, more challenging for crews and better portrayed on television screens around the world. It’s an interesting process, but focussing on the hardware might not find the solution – assuming we know what the problem is.

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…

In the battle of the competing round the world races for Class40 boats, the Global Ocean Race, organised by Josh Hall, seems to have more momentum. In fact, the Portugal Ocean Race has not updated the news part of their website since October 2009. Meanwhile, the Global Ocean Race has announced that the event will stopover in Punta del Este, Uruguay.

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…

There are hundreds of good ideas in sailing. Perhaps a few too many. While many great potential events can be concieved, making them work requires some risk taking in a finite addressable market for competitors, partners and investors.

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.