TAGS: AMERICAS CUP, EMIRATES TEAM NZ, FACEBOOK, JIMMY SPITHILL, OMAN SAIL, SOCIAL MEDIA, VOLVO OCEAN RACE

Volvo Ocean Race organisers have been forced to come up with a new plan to get the competing boats and teams in and out of Abu Dhabi without exposing them to the threat of piracy.

After monitoring the increasing security concerns related to piracy and taking advice from marine safety experts Dryad Maritime Intelligence, a new logistical plan has been developed.

The planned race would have seen competing teams sail through an East African corridor in the Indian Ocean on the second leg from Cape Town to Abu Dhabi and again in the third leg from Abu Dhabi to Sanya in China.

Under the new plan, the boats will race from Cape Town to an undisclosed ‘safe haven’ port, be transported closer to Abu Dhabi by a specialised yacht transport ship and then complete the leg from there. The process will be reversed for the third leg before the race continues on to Sanya, the fourth of 10 host ports in a race that will not finish until July 2012.

Volvo Ocean Race Chief Executive Knut Frostad said:

“This has been an incredibly difficult decision. We have consulted leading naval and commercial intelligence experts and their advice could not have been clearer: ‘Do not risk it.’ The solution we have found means our boats will still be racing into Abu Dhabi and competing in the in-port race there.

“Abu Dhabi is a very important part of our plans, a real highlight being the race’s first-ever stopover in the Middle East, and we will now have a really exciting sprint finish to the emirate over the New Year period as well.”

The route was always going to have an element of risk, but figures supplied by Dryad suggest that the piracy risk is increasing. It says piracy is a well-organised and highly lucrative business and it has expanded into a vast area off the coast of Somalia. In 2010 a record 1,181 seafarers were kidnapped by pirates.

Frostad emphasised that the race would still be a round-the-world challenge.

“We continue to be the only continuous sporting event to visit five continents over nine months of gruelling sailing.”

Abu Dhabi is a race partner as well as host city for the Volvo Ocean Race. The emirate has invested heavily in the infrastructure to host the event, a Volvo 70 and activation of their involvement at events like Cowes Week.

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While some ‘old’ media struggle with the emergence of digital platforms, Radio is not one of them. In fact, as broadband becomes more widespread, and radio stations can broadcast via the internet to larger audiences than ever before, audio is more important than ever as part of the suite of tools that sports rights holders have to communicate with fans and to promote sponsors.

Unlike visual media, which requires eyeballs to be focused on a screen, radio can be consumed while doing other things. Radio also allows the provision of live commentary for spectators at an event, which makes the fan experience completely different to watching it without.

The Volvo Ocean Race, which has always had a holistic view of media has appointed USP Content as the official radio provider to the next edition of the race, which starts on 29 October in Alicante, Spain.

USP will provide live and pre-recorded audio coverage for the entirety of the race directly from Race Headquarters in Alicante, ports of call en route and from on board the boats themselves. Hundreds of radio stations across the continents are being accredited to update millions of listeners on the latest news, conditions and race standings – in multiple languages reflecting the diversity of nationalities taking part in the Race.

Adam Binns, Director of Radio & Television for the Volvo Ocean Race said:

“We are delighted to be working with USP Content – a company with an outstanding track record in the field of sports broadcasting. In 1973-74 we had a weekly phone call to the fleet. Now our Race will be consumed when the listener wants, on all kinds of devices so it is essential we work with someone whose experience in live commentary, traditional radio and digital audio streams is unrivaled.”

USP Content also provides the back-end for BBC Radio 5 Live’s Formula 1 coverage, producing live, pre-recorded programmes and podcasts for the entire race calendar. The company’s portfolio of sports broadcasting includes NFL, Major League Baseball and Premier League football.

Rob Jones, Managing Director of USP Content said:

“Obviously I am delighted to be aboard such a prestigious project. We have devised a very sophisticated and comprehensive broadcast plan which will ensure many millions of people around the world will be able to ride every single wave!”

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The tie-up between PUMA Ocean Racing, Laird Hamilton and yacht designer Juan K has been recognised outside the yacht racing bubble by Outside Magazine.

The new PUMA/Laird stand up paddleboard (SUP) was selected by Outside Magazine for a 2011 Gear of the Show Award at the Outdoor Retailer trade show. The limited edition, carbon fibre board was the only watercraft to be included in the list of 10 awards.

The SUP board features the same design principles as the PUMA Ocean Racing Volvo 70 – both ergonomically and through the use of the same ultra-lightweight materials. Built in the United States by Clear Carbon and Components, Inc. and distributed by Surftech, the board marks the first time that boat hull design innovation have been used in stand-up paddleboards.

The PUMA/Laird Board is covered by red tentacle graphics matching PUMA’s Mar Mostro. Demo PUMA/Laird Boards will be available at each of the port stopovers during the Volvo Ocean Race.

Juan K is the mastermind behind PUMA’s Mar Mostro as well as the designer for the two previous winning Volvo Ocean Race boats – ABM-AMRO ONE and Ericsson 4. Kouyoumdijian is also the principal designer with Artemis Racing Team for the 34th America’s Cup. Born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, his passion for sailing inspired him to study naval architecture, and he earned a degree in yacht and in small craft design. Today, his company, Juan Yacht Design, based in Valencia, Spain, is composed of a multicultural team specialized in the design of high performance racing yachts.

The collaboration between PUMA Ocean Racing and Laird Hamilton was announced earlier this month.

Meanwhile, PUMA Ocean Racing’s Skipper Ken Read has been testing the Volvo 70 in the Canary Islands. He said in a recent blog, before flying to Cowes Week to receive awards for the Transatlantic race:

The Lanzarote travel brochure has not fibbed to us so far – it is exactly as advertised. Which means wet, windy and sometimes crazy sailing. It is exactly what we need.

Getting used to the speeds in these boats is imperative. It’s not something that necessarily comes naturally. What you think is fast can always be faster. And, this place is hopefully going to bring that drive to each of us individually and collectively as a team.

After doing the Transatlantic Race, the sailors took two weeks off. In those two weeks, the shore team completely took apart the boat and put it back together again, checking every millimeter of it, and they set up a fantastic shore base here at the Puerto Calero Marina. We showed up and literally stepped onto the boat – it was fantastic.

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There are some statistics that might be flawed, but nevertheless when applied across time in a consistent manner, provide valuable insights. While the number of Facebook likes a particular brand or athlete has is not a rigorous test of popularity or marketing success, it provides a good proxy for who is managing to engage what one might call – the Facebook generation.

There has been no change in the top 10 yacht racing brands for whom we monitor Facebook likes. Average monthly growth for the properties monitored was 6.02%. The fastest growing property in percentage terms was once again Oman Sail (18.57%).

With 100 days to go, the Volvo Ocean Race continues to grow its Facebook fanbase at about 4% per month. With about 7 days until the first America’s Cup World Series event, the America’s Cup is growing at 11% a month, but off a low base. The real numbers are more interesting than the percentages.

In January, the Volvo Ocean Race had 35,187 likes. The America’s Cup had 3,521. The Cup has a stated aim to make Facebook a fundamental piece of the communications platform for the new format and have invested heavily in marketing and communications for a specific audience. However since January, the Volvo Ocean Race has acquired 9,832 new likes, while the America’s Cup has managed just 6,901. In the same period, Alex Thomson Racing, which also has a stated preference for developing social media, acquired 9,767 likes.

Last week, Grant Dalton said that Emirates Team New Zealand would “live in social”, as a result of the America’s Cup protocol forcing the team to redirect their URL to the official page. The team has partnered with DELL to get their heads around Facebook and Twitter. Last month, the team’s Facebook likes grew at 12% to 2,903, but there is a long way to go to rival ORACLE Racing’s 15,329. In fact, Emirates Team NZ still have to overtake Alinghi and Mascalzone Latino yet.

If the future of the America’s Cup is the Facebook Generation, then marketing people need to get a lot better at talking to them. If the America’s Cup is the F1 of sailing, then Teams like ORACLE need to find another 340,000 or so likes to rival a team like McLaren.

Elsewhere in sailing, smaller events show how different strategies for Social Media are working out with that audience. In April, the Audi Med Cup had 1,681 likes. The World Match Racing Tour had 2,389. At the end of July, the Audi Med Cup has passed the World Match Racing Tour and now has 3,398 likes versus the WMRT with 3,247. The Audi Med Cup grew at 16.13% in July while the World Match Racing Tour grew at 9.47%. Again – the World Match Racing Tour has a stated aim of making Social Media a large part of their communications platform, while the Audi Med Cup is growing more organically.

The phrase – lies, damn lies and statistics should be kept in mind when reading these things. Of course there are other factors and at the end of the day, Facebook is only one media platform. However, all things being equal, it does provide a baseline measure to compare how different marketing folks are performing.

So with months still to run until the Volvo Ocean Race, their fans like what they see. Oman Sail is showing that having strong national ties is also a good way to get people to like you andAlex Thomson Racing has shown that if you actually employ people who know what they are doing, you can get great results.

See the top 30 Yacht Racing brands on Facebook.

It’s almost time for another Volvo Ocean Race. With just 100 days to go until the start of the next edition, the teams still have a lot of preparation to do. And while many UK sailing fans will have to wait until July 2012, when the race finishes in Ireland to see the boats, a couple of the teams will compete in the Fastnet Race, giving UK fans a preview of some of the favourites including Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing and Groupama.

Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing Skipper Ian Walker:

“We know some of the other Volvo Ocean Race teams will be there for the Fastnet and we’ll all be looking to flex our muscles without letting too much out of the bag. It will be great to test ourselves against other teams and benchmark how far we have come, and equally importantly, how far is still left to go. It is also a welcome break from training and to will help rekindle that competitive drive which will serve us well over the coming 100 days.

Telefónica skipper Iker Martínez:

“We are starting to feel confident. Little by little we are getting to know each other and the boat is starting to feel like one of us. It doesn’t feel so strange any more being in a boat so different from the last one we had, which will sail against us in the hands of Mike Sanderson (of Team Sanya). It’s odd that we’ll be competing against the old Telefónica Blue, even if she does have a new name.”

PUMA Ocean Racing skipper Ken Read:

“We have really tried to treat every day like its crucial, and these final 100 days are no more important than the beginning days were for this program. I believe this is a good thing. If we were behind in our planning or had a problem, the final days would surely carry quite a bit more significance. Final 100 days? Hopefully, they will just be treated like another day in the office… 100 times.”

Groupama skipper Franck Cammas:

“We were one month late when we launched the boat this spring but it’s all fine today. We managed to qualify and to improve the boat after sailing here. We didn’t break anything and the gauge controls went very well. Groupama 4 is not in race mode yet, but we are working on it. On August 14 we will take part in the Fastnet Race in Cowes before coming back to our base in Lorient. We will head to Alicante at the end of September.”

Team Sanya skipper Mike Sanderson (speaking late last month):

“This campaign is very late in getting going, and there is no doubt that we are handicapped by having to use an older generation boat. That said, we know we need to pitch the boat’s performance into a corner and Telefónica Blue last time was very quick in the light and moderate conditions and potent during inshore racing. Seeing the new boats launched so far, it appears she still might be okay in these conditions. Only time will tell of course, but we do feel that she will offer us a great opportunity to have our ‘day in the sun’.”

And here’s some Emirates Team New Zealand news that doesn’t make sense to publish on the America’s Cup website. The team’s Volvo 70 yacht has departed for Europe. Team NZ’s shipping partner Maersk will be used for the journey.

For a race that calls at nine ports around the world, logistics is a substantial part of the cost-base for a sailing team. For the Volvo Ocean Race, CAMPER in association with Emirates Team NZ will have two shore bases, each consisting of four 40ft shipping containers. In order to have the bases set up in time for the arrival of the team, the two bases will leap-frog each other around the world.

Grant Dalton, Managing Director of Emirates Team New Zealand comments on the partnership:

“Maersk Line have been part of our the team since 2005, and I cannot explain how crucial they are to ensuring the success of our offshore operations. We now have a fleet of yachts involved in regattas around the world, from the America’s Cup, to the Extreme 40’s and now the Volvo Ocean Race. Alongside the boats, we need to ship various support assets such as ribs, and workshops that will manage the boats during competition. Maersk is our lifeline in ensuring we can compete on a world stage.”

For the ‘trainspotter’ types amongst you, the Team NZ PR folks have handily supplied the exact ships that will be used to make the journey. The first part will be on the container ship Maersk Dabou, and then CAMPER will be “trans-shipped” at Petjung Peletas, Malaysia, to the Skagen Maersk at for the 8329 mile voyage to Felixstowe in the United Kingdom.

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Puma Ocean Racing has announced a partnership with the ultimate waterman – Laird Hamilton. Given the Volvo Ocean Race strapline of ‘Life at the Extreme’, it’s hard to think of a better brand ambassador for the new Puma boat, Mar Mostro.

Hamilton is no stranger to sailing. He was one of the innovators of windsurfing and back in the day when windsurfing videos were sold on VHS to fans who couldn’t get enough of their sport on TV, footage of Laird sailing, and jumping a speedboard in the Neil Pryde video ‘Rigmarole’ inspired a generation of extreme sailors. Later, Hamilton invented ‘tow-in’ surfing, which allowed monster waves to be ridden.

Laird Hamilton’s personal facebook page has over 41,000 fans, which is more than the Volvo Ocean Race itself (though the page has no mention of the Puma tie up – yet). If done properly, the partnership promises to bring a new element to the race, but initial reaction (on Twitter at least) to the deal was luke-warm.

The exciting bit of the association between Puma Ocean Racing Team and Laird Hamilton, for surfers at least, is ‘monster waves’. The Volvo 70 that will be raced by Puma is named Mar Mostro (the monster of the sea) and the livery features vivid giant octopus and other creatures.

Laird and the PUMA Ocean Racing Crew will commence a search for the world’s monster waves during the upcoming Volvo Ocean Race 2011-2012. Skipper Ken Read and the crew will help track the world’s biggest rogue waves, which Hamilton will attempt to conquer. Using the weather and navigational teams onshore and onboard PUMA’s Mar Mostro, the crew will track wave patterns while sailing through the remotest reaches of the world’s oceans. As monster waves are found, Hamilton will fly in, prepared to surf them.

There is a further tie-up. The search to ride the world’s wildest waves will be helped by the design of a new “concept” surfboard. Juan Kouyoumdjian (Juan K), the designer of PUMA’s Mar Mostro Volvo 70, as well as the boat designer for two previous winning Volvo Open 70 boats, ABM-AMRO ONE and Ericsson 4, will collaborate with Hamilton on the surfboard development.

Laird Hamilton said:

“It’s been a life-long goal to push the boundaries and find these rogue waves at sea to ride. “When PUMA and the PUMA Ocean Racing crew approached me with ideas for how we might collectively make this happen during the Volvo Ocean Race, I was thrilled. We’re bringing the ultimate innovation to action water sports. It’s going to be a game-changer.”

That news alone would have been enough to get people talking, but the ‘riding giants’ message got a little lost yesterday in a series of announcements that talked about Laird as the ‘honorary’ 12th member of the PUMA Ocean Race crew and the development of a new stand up paddle (SUP) board.

Buried towards the bottom of a very long press release, Hamilton’s duties as honorary 12th crew member include him serving as a fitness and nutrition coach for the PUMA Ocean Racing team. This includes applying his proprietary regimen to get ‘the boys’ ready to face mother nature’s fury at sea. The nutrition and fitness regime specifics probably deserve a separate story….

Antonio Bertone, Chief Marketing Officer for PUMA AG said

“PUMA has a history of unexpected collaborations that change the playing field of the sports we engage in. The introduction of Laird Hamilton as the honorary 12th crew member on our PUMA Ocean Racing team represents an epic clash of prowess on the ocean. We’re bringing together the world’s most elite sailors with their counterpart in the surf and paddleboard sector to serve as a key fixture of our Volvo Ocean Race campaign.”

Which brings us to the stand up paddleboard (SUP) part of the release. Unlike big-wave surfing, which is the preserve of only the most experienced and fit surfers, SUP is a sport that is more gentle, more mass-market if you will. The difference between tow-in surfing and SUP is like the Volvo Ocean Race being compared to a Carribean cruise. But it’s hard to summon big waves to Newport R.I. harbour, so the photos of the day were of Laird on the new carbon fiber SUP board with a similar livery to Mar Mostro.

The SUP gives PUMA a consumer watersports product to sell.

Look in the merchandising brochure for :

Limited edition carbon fiber stand-up paddleboards (SUPs) will take inspiration from the Mar Mostro Volvo 70 hull design, both ergonomically and through the use of the same ultra-lightweight carbon fiber materials. Made in the United States, the boards feature the bright red tentacle design, matching PUMA’s Mar Mostro. This marks the first time that boat hull design innovation will be applied to paddleboards.

It’s great too see PUMA pushing the boundaries and bringing its sports marketing expertise to sailing. The ‘out of the box’ thinking that they applied to the last Volvo Ocean Race campaign made other sponsors have to think harder about how they would get attention. With Laird Hamilton on board, PUMA have the opportunity to expose the Volvo Ocean Race to a new audience, but the message needs to be more targeted and more integrated.

As sailing journalists, we know all about the story, but as fans of Laird, we haven’t heard anything yet.

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A recent edition of the Financial Times’ ‘How to Spend it’ magazine which focused on yachts and boating carried 14 advertisements for watches including the inside front cover double spread, back cover and inside back cover. So there is no doubt that marketing folk think that there is a strong link between the demographic who have big boats and those who buy nice timepieces.

Rolex, Omega, Panerai and Corum are just some of the brands that use sponsorship of sailing to promote themselves.

While the supplement was more about the kind of yachts that appeal to Russian billionaires and Rappers, sailing has long been used to promote watches. And now, IWC Schaffhausen, the International Watch Company, has announced a sponsorship deal with Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority (ADTA) to become the first major sponsor of Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing.

According to the press release, this sailing sponsorship deal is a first for the Swiss brand – the first time IWC has backed a top-tier global sports team. The nature of the deal is to “…foster enhanced promotional and awareness initiatives around the team’s pursuit of top honours.” The watch company will also get some real-estate on the Volvo Open 70.

His Excellency Mubarak Al Muhairi, Director General, ADTA – Team Principal for Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing said:

“We share a pioneering spirit based on the fundamentals of tradition. This is a coming together of two organisations that have a great deal in common, including the pursuit of perfection, strong community responsibility, unwavering commitment to sustainable business practices and the environment, and a desire to excel beyond expectation. Together we will chart a course of mutual and steadfast success.”

Georges Kern, CEO, IWC Schaffhausen said:

“For over 140 years, IWC has epitomised values such as engineering excellence, perfection, pioneering spirit, quality and passion. We are proud to put these attributes to the test as the Official Timekeeper for the forthcoming Volvo Ocean Race and to share them with Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing team.”

IWC Schaffhausen is also the Official Timekeeper of the Volvo Ocean Race. The deal, announced in January means that IWC Schaffhausen will present the 24-hour record prize per race leg, which will be awarded during the prize-giving ceremony at each Host Port. They will also award a special prize for the fastest team over 24-hours in the Volvo Ocean Race 2011-12. This prize will be presented at the end of the race in Galway, July 2012. The fastest crewmembers will all be awarded an exclusive IWC timepiece.

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Many yacht racing promoters count tourism and travel organisations amongst their biggest supporters. Cities bid to host events and in return get to raise awareness about a destination and perhaps also a bump in tourism numbers. As the start of the Volvo Ocean Race approaches, some host ports are doing a better job than others of promoting their destination’s Volvo Ocean Race travel packages.

Leading the race is Abu Dhabi. This is perhaps no surprise, given that the tie-up between the team and the venue is so close. The official Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing website features a prominent ‘Plan your trip’ link, though the ‘last mile’ to booking tickets is still left to the consumer to work out via the Visit Abu Dhabi website. This may change as the Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority (ADTA) is working with international tour operators, hotels, airlines and other stakeholders to develop compelling New Year-Volvo Ocean Race packages to the emirate.

Other stopovers have little or no information for visitors looking to travel to a Volvo Ocean Race port. There is a holding page at www.galwayvolvooceanrace.com and a splash page at www.volvooceanracemiami.org and in other host-ports like Sanya and Capetown, third party travel operators rank at the top of Google for searches like “Volvo Ocean Race travel packages.”

The Volvo Ocean Race does allow cities to build marine infrastructure with long-term benefits. Boston’s Fan Pier which hosted a stopover for the last edition will host the Extreme Sailing Series over the 4th of July Weekend and Abu Dhabi’s plans to build a 55,000m² ‘Destination Village’ will be of long term benefit as a sailing center to locals and visitors alike.

The village  is being built on the Abu Dhabi Corniche breakwater, adjacent to the Heritage Village and overlooking Abu Dhabi’s city skyline.

The Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority (ADTA) has appointed Tourism Development & Investment Company (TDIC) to manage development of the site.

TDIC will dredge this section of the Corniche lagoon to allow entry of the 4.5 metre keeled state-of-the-art race yachts and build permanent yacht pontoons. Infrastructure work is due for completion this September. Temporary structure build will run until December when the final phase of installing more than 130 Volvo Ocean Race team gear, hospitality and equipment containers will take place.

His Excellency Mubarak Al Muhairi, Director General, ADTA and Managing Director, TDIC said:

“This will ensure that our hosting leaves a lasting legacy for the emirate and will also boost our long-term ambitions to be recognised as a compelling winter sailing and watersports destination. It will be the place to be at the beginning of 2012 and will be marked by a sensational New Year’s Eve celebration It will also allow visitors to connect with our rich maritime heritage as well as the history of the Volvo Ocean Race and to discover more about sailing as a healthy pastime and sport.”

ADTA is planning an entertainment programme for the two-week stop-over including concerts, a welcoming ceremony for the first arriving yacht, in-port races, pro-am races, city receptions and top-class evening events taking place throughout the city.

The authority is progressing a full-scale stopover sailing programme in conjunction with local stakeholders, which will draw on the near 40 years experience of the Volvo Ocean Race. It will boast entry-level sailing academies for those looking to attempt their first tack and jibe all the way through to traditional dhow racing demonstrations.

It’s not just about tourists though. There is an opportunity to grow the sport in the region. Al Muhairi says:

“This, we hope, will be the start of a renaissance in the uptake of sailing locally. The sea is in our blood and we want to encourage residents, nationals and expatriates alike, to get out onto the water.”

ADTA is working closely with a number of governmental and commercial bodies to successfully stage the Middle East’s first hosting of the Volvo Ocean Race, including Abu Dhabi Sailing & Yacht Club, the Official Host Yacht Club and key partner in the roll-out of the stopover and the junior sailing initiatives; and the Abu Dhabi International Marine Sports Club, the Technical Headquarters, which will be home to the team areas, media center, photographer centre and the international television broadcast compound.

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