TAGS: ICOYC, INTERNATIONAL COUNCIL OF YACHT CLUBS, ROYAL HONG KONG YACHT CLUB, ROYAL NEW ZEALAND YACHT SQUADRON, ROYAL NORWEGIAN YACHT CLUB, ROYAL PRINCE ALFRED YACHT CLUB, SPONSORSHIP, ST FRANCIS YACHT CLUB

Hamilton Island Race Week must be wishing they had got some sponsorship from QANTAS for their latest PR stunt. The regatta is hosting some of the world’s best sailors, but also some valuable silverware.

The carbon footprint and airmiles of the America’s Cup has been added to, with a flight to Hamilton Island to sit beside the Admirals Cup. It is the first time ever, the two significant trophies from sport of sailing have been displayed together.

The America’s Cup flew to Australia from San Francisco in a first-class passenger seat (cost circa $2400 each way). It is only the third time that the Cup has been seen in Australia, so its presence at Audi Hamilton Island Race Week is high recognition of the stature that this regatta now holds on the international sailing scene.

The Admiral’s Cup is currently defended by Australia and Sydney’s Royal Prince Albert Yacht Club after Bob Oatley’s yacht Wild Oats won it in 2003.

While we don’t know if the America’s Cup’s flights are sponsored, the luxury luggage (or box) is courtesy of long-term sponsor Louis Vuitton. Vice Commodore of the Golden Gate Yacht Club Tom Ehman who travelled to Australia, with the Cup and two security officers said:

“The America’s Cup travels in a very large Louis Vuitton box which captures great attention at the airport.”

The America’s Cup visit to Audi Hamilton Island Race Week was organised by Iain Murray, the Commodore of Hamilton Island Yacht Club. Murray is also the CEO and Regatta Director for the next America’s Cup match, which will be staged in San Francisco in 2013. Murray’s direct association with the America’s Cup spans almost 30 years. In that time he has been credited with making significant contributions towards the development of the event, particularly through yacht design and development.

During Audi Hamilton Island Race Week Iain Murray and the Vice-Commodore of the Golden Gate Yacht Club, Tom Ehman, will be speaking at forums about the America’s Cup as an event.

Audi Australia has been re-arranging its sailing sponsorships over the last 12 months or so. The company ended long-term deals with events like Victoria Week and the Sydney Harbour Regatta, but has now announced that it will continue its relationship with the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia.

Garry Linacre, Commodore of the CYCA, has confirmed that Audi Centre Sydney will continue on as the naming rights sponsor of the Audi Winter Series, the Audi Sydney Gold Coast Yacht Race and the CYCA Youth Sailing Academy.

Commodore Linacre said:

“On behalf of the CYCA we are proud and honoured to continue our association with Audi, the largest corporate sponsor of competitive yachting in Australia. We are pleased that Audi will continue to be one of the Club’s key sponsors and has renewed its commitment to the sport of yachting. With Audi’s sponsorship, the CYCA can continue to deliver some of Australia’s premiere yachting events including the Audi Winter Series and the Audi Sydney Gold Coast Yacht Race; and lead the way in developing the sailors of tomorrow through the Youth Sailing Academy.”

Audi Centre Sydney Dealer Principal, Joe King said:

“We look forward to working closely with the CYCA to bring the Audi brand even closer to the Club’s members. Audi has been a keen supporter of competitive sailing for some years now as we see clear parallels between the automotive industry and sailing in terms of technology, competitiveness and progressive thinking. We are excited to again support ‘anchor’ events as the Audi Winter Series and of course the just-completed Audi Sydney Gold Coast Yacht Race.”

“The CYCA’s Youth Sailing Academy is also a fantastic grass roots initiative which we applaud, bringing new skills and a love of sailing to children in the Club’s local area. This is certainly a place to find future world champions and Olympians and Audi. ”

Each of the sponsored events have different audiences and reflect different brand characteristics.

The Audi Winter Series has fleets averaging 140 plus boats weekly making it is one of the biggest weekly winter sailing events in the world, attracting more than 1,500 competitors who enjoy plenty of action packed round the buoys racing on the beautiful Sydney Harbour each week.

The CYCA Youth Sailing Academy was set up 18 years ago and is now one of the first full-time sailing academies dedicated to foster the development of young keelboat sailors. This sponsorship support of the the Academy’s training program provides opportunities for the Club’s young talent to attend national and international ISAF graded regattas to gain greater experience. Many graduates have gone on to sail on member yachts, sail professionally or compete in the Olympics. In 2013, the YSA will celebrate its 20th anniversary.

• More Automotive Sailing Sponsorship News
• More Australian Sailing News

Audi Australia, a long-time supporter of sailing, has anounnced that it will not renew it’s sponsorship deal with the Sydney Harbour Regatta organised by Middle Harbour Yacht Club (MHYC). The title sponsorship has run for five years.

Audi says it is looking for new sponsorship opportunities within Australian sailing. In May, Audi announced that they would also not renew their sponsorship of Victoria Week – a two year deal that also came to its end without being continued. The brand is a major sponsor of the Australian Olympic sailing team.

Uwe Hagen, Audi Australia’s Managing Director, said:

“After five years of this great event, it’s time for Audi in Australia to focus on new areas of sailing sponsorship. We have enjoyed our time as title sponsor of this spectacular and popular regatta, and we wish the event all the success for the future. It has been a pleasure to work with the Middle Harbour Yacht Club, which has delivered a thoroughly professional event each year.”

“The conclusion of this sponsorship nonetheless sees Audi continue to be involved at a high level with the sport of sailing in Australia, although our activities will take a new direction for the future.”

Commodore of MHYC, Julie Hodder, commented:

“Middle Harbour Yacht Club is proud of the partnership developed between the Club and Audi Australia in building this event into the iconic landmark sailing event for Sydney that it now is, with over 300 yachts and 2,500 crew members competing inshore and offshore, over two days of racing, on eight course areas and over 24 divisions. We look forward to continuing our relationship with Audi via its ongoing involvement in the sport of sailing in Australia.”

Audi’s commitment to sailing around the world continues to be strong through events like the Audi Med Cup and recent sponsorship of Match Race Sweden.

More Australian Sailing News

In 2009, Audi replaced Skandia as title sponsor of Victoria Week, once known as Geelong Week.  The deal meant that the Australian regatta retained momentum and support through a period when Cowes Week, who also lost Skandia as a title sponsor struggled to find a new backer.

The two year deal has now ended and Audi Australia will not renew the title deal, although the car manufacturer, who are big supporters of sailing in Australia and around the world have confirmed that they will have some sponsorship presence at Victoria Week and remain committed to the sport of Sailing in Australia through Audi Sailing Sport.

Uwe Hagen, Managing Director of Audi Australia said:

“We have enjoyed a successful relationship with Victoria over the past two years, but now we feel we need to concentrate our efforts in other areas of the sport of sailing. I would like to thank the organisers of Audi Victoria Week and the Royal Geelong Yacht Club for their commitment and dedication. I would also like to thank all the competitors who sailed in Audi Victoria Week for providing such wonderful on-the-water action.”

Event Chairman Andrew Neilson said:

“Royal Geelong Yacht Club is thankful for Audi’s considerable investment and support of Victoria Week and we look forward to continuing a long and mutually beneficial relationship”.

The news means that Victoria Week is now looking for a new title sponsor. The spin from the commercial team echoes statements made by Cowes Week over the last few years, which translated mean that packages will be re-bundled to try to make up any shortfalls. In PR speak that goes like this:

“…with the successful finalisation of Audi’s Title Sponsorship contract, the management team is utilising the opportunity to review and restructure its sponsorship offering to ensure that the event continues to deliver positive results to sponsors across the distinct facets of the event.”

The pitch to prospective title sponsors goes like this – Victoria Week is the largest annual sailing regatta in the Southern Hemisphere, and Australia’s oldest, dating back prior to 1844. Held annually over the Australia Day public holiday, Victoria Week attracts over 400 yachts, 4700 event participants and in excess of 100,000 patrons to the Shoreside Festival to enjoy the free activities and entertainment on Geelong’s beautiful waterfront.

More Australian Yacht Racing Business News

When Mick Doohan retired from MotoGP, with 5 World Motorcycle Championships under his belt, the rights holders of the championship – Dorna – went looking for a new Australian star. They found Casey Stoner, and in doing so, kept thousands of Australian fans interested in the event.

Meanwhile, in sailing. Some of the sports biggest potential ‘rock-stars’ are funding their own campaigns, sleeping on mates couches and flying budget airlines to compete in some of the world’s most elite events.

It’s a shame that Australian brands, looking to compete internationally, haven’t discovered Torvar Mirsky. Mirsky, who turns 25 later this month, has shown that he can beat the world’s best sailors and position himself as a future America’s Cup skipper. But Australian brand’s loss is Oman’s gain and The Wave Muscat will become title sponsor of the team that has a very good chance of being the World Match Racing champions in 2011.

2011 is perhaps Mirsky’s best chance to win the World Match Racing Tour. Some of his biggest rivals have stepped away from the series – Ben Ainslie to focus on the Olympics and Adam Minoprio to compete in the Volvo Ocean Race. Previously, Torvar’s team has come close, with a 2nd in 2009 and 3rd in 2010.

Sponsorship, even in a one-design competition, can be the difference between winning and losing. Knowing that  the bills are paid and that there is some money in the pot for training, allows a sailor to concentrate on winning. Torvar says:

“Traditionally our team has done everything off our own backs and as cheap as possible like staying in backpackers and relying on friends for support to live away from Australia. The support of The Wave, Muscat means that we can now put a campaign together that we allow us to take part at the level required to win the WMRT, for example we are hoping to have a coach at some events. We really appreciate the support and of The Wave Muscat and it will make such a big difference to our campaign this year.”

“This year we are out to win. We’ve done a lot of sailing this year already, but it has been six months since the last WMRT finished so we have had a big break from match racing and there are a few nerves and lot of excitement about starting up again. We need to get back in the rhythm as we want to be sailing at a high level. We know we will be a little bit rusty at the first event but we are excited about getting back into it.”

The Wave Muscat has a knack for spotting great sailing talent. The lifestyle development has used the Extreme Sailing Series to successfully promote itself to a desirable, global audience and in 2010 sponsored Paul Campbell-Jones to the top of the podium.  Sponsorship of Torvar Mirsky in the World Match Racing Tour is a no-brainer. The marginal cost is minimal and the brand gets an additional nine events to promote to.

David Stafford Vice President of Sales and Marketing at The Wave, Muscat said:

“We are delighted to be supporting Torvar and the Mirsky Racing Team in this year’s World Match Racing Tour. With Torvar also skippering The Wave, Muscat in the Extreme Sailing Series this year we were eager to extend our support of someone we believe will be a sailing superstar for many years to come.

“The Wave, Muscat’s premier 400-berth Marina ensures our country’s proud maritime heritage sits at the heart of the Muscat tourist experience. Through our support of world class sailing we hope to promote Oman as a new and exciting sailing destination. We wish the Mirsky Racing Team all the very best for the forthcoming season.”

As well as their WMRT commitments this year, Mirsky and two of his Mirsky Racing teammates, Kyle Langford and Kinley Fowler, are also racing in the Extreme Sailing Series. Mirsky is skippering the reigning champion boat, The Wave, Muscat, with Langford as tactician while Fowler is calling tactics aboard Oman Sail’s second entry, Oman Air.

The Wave Muscat Sailing Team will begin their campaign to win the World Match Racing Tour in Marseille – starting today.

More World Match Racing Tour News

Following on from their title sponsorship of the Moth World Championships in January, Australian clothing brand Zhik will become the title sponsor of the SB3 World Championships to be hosted by the Royal Torbay Yacht Club, UK in May 2011.

Zhik has a strong sponsorship presence in Olympic classes and dinghies like the Moth and the company is well placed to position itself to a younger market, with a more edgy brand image than some of the more ‘traditional’ sailing apparel brands.

Partnering with the SB3 class enables Zhik to work with the largest global sportsboat class, with over 120 boats already entered for the 2011 World Championships. The partnership will also help provide full media support to the event, enabling high quality images, daily interviews and video to be released on a daily basis for international spectators to enjoy via the official event website.

Brian Conolly, CEO of Zhik said:

“Zhik is one of the fastest growing sailing brands in the world and so it was an obvious decision to partner with one of the world’s fastest growing keelboat classes; the SB3. Zhik is known for producing the most technically advanced sailing gear for Olympic and Skiff champions from around the world and more recently keelboat sailors have been discovering the Zhik difference. By partnering with the SB3’s we hope to deliver an exceptional competitor and follower experience to the same level as the recent Zhik Moth Worlds.”

Dave Cheyne, President of the Laser SB3 World Council added:

“We are delighted to welcome Zhik aboard as title sponsor for the 2011 World Championships, it is shaping up to be the largest and most competitive one design keelboat World Championships of 2011, and we are sure it will be a tremendous event. Zhik are a natural partner for the SB3 class, and we look forward to working with them for these world championships, and other events moving forward.”

More Sailing Sponsorship News

The new deal America’s Cup, which perhaps for the first time is aiming to appeal as much to spectators as it is to team-owners, has set expectations high with regards to the communication of the event to fans via television and social media.

The entrepreneurial zeal of California is waking up, like a sleeping giant who has been landed upon by an annoying buzzing insect. The land that has ignored sailing as a professional sport while it took place on European soil is being tempted off the Corinthian bandwagon by the promise of billions of dollars of commercial opportunity. Suddenly, people who snubbed their noses at the concept of sponsorship are calling for celebrity ambassadors to promote the America’s Cup around the world.

This weekend, Formula One (F1) will start its 2011 season in Melbourne Australia. Those interested in marketing sailing as a professional sport should pay attention – not to the racing, but to the way the sponsors activate their involvement. It should also be noted that F1 is a highly technical and complicated sport that manages to appeal to a wide audience. (We’re going to revisit the argument that sailing is too complicated soon).

There will be a lot of interesting things tried by F1 teams and their sponsors in 2011. They might not go as far as Major League Baseball who have experimented with pushing the envelope on licensing and according to Darren Rovell, CNBC’s Sports Business reporter:

(The) Best thing MLB has done for licensing $ is allow their logos to be messed with (especially on caps). Other leagues haven’t followed.

One story that has already been promoted is McLaren attempting to improve the racing experience for fans through the mobile platform and its revamped Vodafone McLaren Mercedes team website. It aims to drive deeper engagement with the team’s fans during the season and offer them an accompaniment to watching races on TV.

McLaren also has a long-term sponsorship partnership with Hugo Boss, who are at the forefront of using Social media and digital technology to communicate sailing to fans.

Sports data will be important. There will be an upgraded telemetry data facility – covering raw technical car data, such as engine revs and speed, delivered in real time – to improve the user experience.

Derek Harbinson, head of digital media at McLaren, said that changes to the site were intended to make the brand seem “warmer” online than it had in the past through its digital activity.

“We want to make sure that our digital communications match the standards we have set ourselves in everything else we do.”

As part of the strategy, McLaren is looking to bring fans closer to the team through social media. As well as increasing its levels of activity on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, the team has added a Facebook app to its site that enables fans to discuss the races in real time with friends while watching the live race and data feeds. The site is also optimised for mobile, meaning fans can watch the telemetry data on their handset for the first time.

There is no doubt that Hugo Boss will continue to benefit from their involvement in both F1 and sailing, just as Henri Lloyd has gained significant learnings from their relatively recent sponsorship deals.

So far, the America’s Cup sponsorship landscape looks a bit bare. Oracle gets their logos for ‘free’ and the only other team with a ‘title’ sponsor is Emirates Team New Zealand. Louis Vuitton have 2.1 million facebook fans, but it remains to be seen how many of those the brand can convince to be fans of the America’s Cup.

More Sponsorship Activation News…

While the America’s Cup aims to make sailing cool for ‘young people’ by promising a youth America’s Cup sometime after the current guys have moved onto the 72 foot version of the AC catamaran, Jessica Watson, who is arguably the best known sailor in Australia at the moment has launched a campaign to compete in the 2011 Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race.

Watson will be joined by Michael Perham, who in 2009 became the youngest person to sail around the world. The average age of the crew for the Sydney Hobart Race is just 19.

The campaign is an interesting juxtaposition against other parts of the sport and shows how personality and human interest can appeal to a wider audience while talking about the technology can leave people behind. While Olympic sailors have their heads down trying to qualify for 2012 and the ‘stars’ of other pro series are mostly reluctant media performers, Watson is in her element sharing her passion for sailing with a wide demographic.

Some in the sailing media criticised Watson’s round the world voyage on technicalities, but there is no way to underestimate or denigrate the sporting challenge that is the Sydney Hobart Race.

Garry Linacre, Commodore of the The Cruising Yacht Club of Australia (CYCA), the host of the iconic race said:

‘We look forward to Jessica’s participation in this year’s Rolex Sydney Hobart Jessica has been able to bring together a talented and committed crew that includes Alex Paton, an active member of the CYCA’s Youth Sailing Academy. It is passionate sailors such as these that are the future of sailing in Australia and we wish them all the best in their training and preparation for Australia’s most iconic yacht race, which commences at 1pm on Boxing Day.’

The full crew is Michael Perham (19),another solo circumnavigator from the UK, Peter Woodward (21), Will Broughton (19), Cameron Dale (20), Leigh Thorne (21), Alexandra Paton (20), Levi Curtin (18), Sean Lindsell (21), Genevieve Warlow (19).

More Australian Sailing News…

You might imagine that with the return on investment tourism authorities are looking for from sailing events, there would be more end-to-end thinking about how to link travel with sailing. In reality, even though the name of the host-city is on the website or the bow or the spinnaker, there is almost no joined up thinking between event promoters and tourism promoters to actually convert the interest in the event into hotel bed nights or spending in local restaurants.

The Perth 2011 ISAF World Championships have announced a partnership with QANTAS holidays. According to the statement:

Travel and accommodation sporting packages in Perth for the ISAF Sailing World Championships in December have become much easier to book… Travellers to Perth will be able to book accommodation, flights and membership packages through Qantas Holidays, with the company being the Official Travel Partner of the Perth 2011 World Championships.

It’s a great idea, and more sailing events really should be working more closely with their partners and travel affiliates to help fans and visitors attend the event. In reality, this deal, as far as we can make out, means that QANTAS will sell VIP hospitality tickets ranging in price from $AUD 280 (Crew Club) to $AUD 1013 (John Bertrand Club Membership). This is confirmed by the statement released - Perth 2011 Chief Operating Officer, Darren Beazley, welcomed the participation of Qantas Holidays as a benefit to visitors coming to Perth, saying:

“Qantas Holidays will help raise awareness of our exciting John Bertrand, Gold Medal and Crew Clubs, which give members a range of access and other privileges during the event.”

The site navigation from a visitor to the Perth 2011 website goes like this: Homepage -> About WA -> Getting to Western Australia -> QANTAS Australia Homepage. If you then search a little around the QANTAS website you can eventually find the page where they are selling the tickets, but they are not attached to any travel products.

The site navigation should go: Homepage -> deep-link to QANTAS Perth 2011 travel packages.

The official statement ends:

The dream begins in Perth, the journey begins with Qantas Holidays. For more information, call Qantas Holidays on 13 14 15 to book membership and accommodation packages.

So we did…

Calling QANTAS Holidays (From London), we got exactly what we expected. The incredibly professional folks didn’t have any information to hand and hadn’t been briefed – but that’s  not their fault. They were happy to go and find out all they could about the deal.

For international visitors, the process is not straightforward. A bit of research by one of QANTAS’ super-friendly people suggests that the packages are on the Australian systems and not easily offered to international travelers. They are going to get back to us with more details.

If events like this are actually going to deliver tourism, and not just have it as a headline, then different parts of the supply chain need to work more closely together.

More Sailing Tourism News…

Pilote Media are working to make the sailing travel experience easier for promoters and spectators. If you would like to talk to us about this initiative, please email partners@pilotemedia.com or call +44 7900 975 413