TAGS: AMERICAS CUP, BUSINESS MODEL, CHINA, CHINA TEAM, ENTREPRENEUR, ROI, TEAM CHINA, WANG CHAOYONG

As the America’s Cup learns from their first World Series event in Cascais and starts to prepare for the second event in Plymouth, we’ve put together some of the news that has been published in the last week or so:

The Business Model of the America’s Cup

ORACLE Racing CEO, Russell Coutts has told Bloomberg that the 34th America’s Cup can be campaigned from between 30 – 60 million Euros. A 60 Million euro team has a chance of winning and a 30 million euro team is a budget team that is there for the experience only.

Paul Cayard, CEO of the challenger of record, Artemis Racing also told Bloomberg that the America’s Cup World Series is part of the commercial product that is the America’s Cup. That commercial product costs teams between 1.6 and 2 million euros for the first year. Cayard says that the cost of an AC45 is about 800,000 euros and the same amount needs to be spent to campaign it for a season.

And in return, the Cup is starting to release some media figures. The official site claims that the video of Russell Coutts capsizing in San Francisco has reached 1-million views on YouTube, while the full replay of Sunday’s ‘winner takes all’ fleet race is fast approaching 100,000 views.

Mitch Booth Leaves China Team

A little piece of news, that no doubt will have some more meat put on the bones in coming weeks and months. A statement from one of the America’s Cup challengers said last week:

China Team, the Chinese challenger for the 34th America’s Cup, has decided to part ways with its skipper Mitch Booth after the first AC World Series in Cascais, Portugal, last week.

China Team started the week on a strong note with many good results, notably coming 3rd in the speed trial, and had some of the mostmagic moments of the event. China Team is in the process of finalizing therecruitment of another skipper to be announced shortly.

Spinning the America’s Cup

While the America’s Cup celebrates 160 years of history today, the battle for a fanbase is playing out in many different ways. In BusinessWeek – Bernie Wilson uses phrases like ‘stodgy old regatta’ and ‘plodding monohulls’, while the following text used by a Plymouth hospitality company in a Groupon offer – to give fans 62% off an experience at the America’s Cup World Series in Plymouth – has to be read to be believed…

“The owl and the pussycat went to sea in a beautiful pea green carbon-fibre AC45 catamaran, because they were international sailing champions. Watch the copycats race cheek by owl with today’s Groupon.

…offer sea-hardened sailors and jellylegged landlubbers the chance to watch the race from the water, where they can appreciate the full glory of the day.

Groupon gunwale grippers can bring a friend or friendly parrot to watch the race with today’s deal. With a glass of bubbly in hand and a number of nibbles to nibble, Groupon spectators can board the boat to watch the Oracle-designed catamarans fly around the Sound.”

More America’s Cup Business News

In December 2010, the Extreme Sailing Series announced that it would expand to become a global tour of events. Taking the ‘stadium sailing’ format out of Europe and into new markets, some with immense populations starved of sailing content, had to lead to an increase in the media value for sponsors and partners.

As the Extreme Sailing Series continues to test their business models with regards to media, streaming the Cowes round live to the internet, organisers OC Thirdpole have released an independent interim media evaluation report covering the first three events (Muscat, Qingdao and Istanbul) of the 9-Act global 2011 tour.

Commissioning such reports is expensive, but it is vital that sponsors and media analysts have independent research to base decisions on. There is still too much hyperbole in the industry about the real size of the audience for sailing – no matter what format.

Mark Turner, Executive Chairman of OC ThirdPole recognises that the PR headline figure is worthless to anyone serious about sailing as a commercial enterprise and says:

“First and foremost, we aim to be totally transparent with our methodology and results – and we’ve been using the same quite harsh methodology for three years now. We want our figures to be as realistic as possible, therefore no talk of ‘reach’ to billions of households – even if we are very happy with our expanded global TV footprint. Media evaluation figures are always treated with a level of scepticism – the most important thing for us is the continued strong progession of our global media results.

Compared with the first part of last year’s series, the coverage has increased by nearly 90%. Havas Sponsorship Insights project that the series will generate €23m of media value for the full year – nearly two and a half times the 2010 result. This number is considered conservative and discounts exceptional ‘one-off’ coverage of Act 2 in China, where capsizes generated significant interest.

Coverage included in this report includes over six hours of live television coverage across Turkey and the Balkans on the national broadcaster TRT which followed coverage of the Monaco F1 Grand Prix.

Alastair Macdonald, Director of Sponsorship Insights at Havas commented:

“This interim media evaluation report for the Extreme Sailing Series 2011, illustrates the level of media coverage the series has gained after the first three events. There has been a significant increase in the volume of coverage compared to the first three events of the 2010 series, including some outstanding exposure in Asia. We have used the amount of coverage gained so far this year to make a projection for exposure for the full nine-event series, and the value that this media coverage may deliver.

Mark Turner commented on the results:

“We are pleased with this continued upward progression in the level of media coverage achieved by the circuit. It’s obviously only one measure of the value of the event for sponsors and host venues, but it remains an important one for us to deliver ever increasing returns on investment for our different stakeholders.”

• More Sailing Media News
• More Extreme Sailing Series News

While it remains to be seen how many of the America’s Cup teams competing in Cascais will have the funds to mount a challenge for the real America’s Cup in 72 foot catamarans, China Team has announced sponsorship support from a wide variety of partners.

There is no doubt that China has the depth of population and the commercial clout to fund a challenge and China Team might be the one that actually manages to attract the audience that theAmerica’s Cup Event Authority will change sailing forever through their demand for extreme, speed-obsessed racing.

Firefall, a team based action shooter game (very Facebook Generation) has been announced as the official partner for China Team for the Cascais World Series Event.

Firefall is described as the latest online gaming frenzy, created by Red5 Studios, Inc. The online game, is set in the year 2233 (much like the opening sequence of America’s Cup Uncovered), in a world where a cataclysm has occurred and teams of friends across the world join together and fight for the survival of humanity against the army of the Chosen and save the earth.

Red5 Studios CEO Mark Kern says:

“Congratulations to China Team to become the China challenger for the AC34. We are very proud to be the Official Partner for China Team for the Cascais World Series, and will actively follow the China Team successes over the next 2 years.”

Also joining China Team as partners will be Tony Studio and Mbaobao.

Tony Studio, established in 1999, is the leading brand of styling industry in China. Tony Studio provides individual and tailor-made styling services to deliver style and modern sophistication at the forefront of the fashion industry to their exclusive clientele, under the vision of fashion super star Tony Li.

CEO Tony Li says:

“Tony Studio is excited to sponsor China Team, as Tony Studio and China Team share many values, such as sophistication, exclusivity, and success. We believe that China Team is well positioned to bring success to China in this prestigious sailing event”.

Mbaobao is described as the leading B2C handbag company, and one of the top ten B2C online vendors in China. The company sells many brands, and is funded in part by Italian company Vosconti.

The centralized America’sCup.com website rules means that Louis Vuitton will sit side by side with BagsOK.com.

Mbaobao CEO Ye Haifeng says:

“Just as a few years ago, we never thought that we could become who we are today, growing tenfold in just 3 short years, our dream is coming true; we believe that China Team has a dream and we want to be a part of that dream coming true as well, as it is the pride of the whole of China, not just China Team”

Wang Chaoyong, Chairman of China Team says about the sponsorship strategy:

“One of the main goals of the 34th America’s Cup is to extend the reach of the America’s Cup to a whole new and younger generation audience. China Team is delivering on this goal in China by attracting many younger generation entrepreneurs as partners and sponsors who are excited about China’s potential in sailing, especially in such a prestigious event as the America’s Cup.”

“Unlike the traditional sponsors of the America’s Cup challengers, these new generation of companies can relate to the Chinese young sailors, training and getting ready to sail in the races around the world with China Team. Their reach among China’s younger generation is enormous, with millions of younger Chinese fans now getting to know China Team as well as the America’s Cup through these partners”.

More America’s Cup News

The business of yacht racing currently relies heavily on the backing of destination marketing and tourism authorities. The model is simple. Staging a high-profile yacht racing event like a stopover for the Volvo Ocean Race, provides a platform to promote a city and introduce tourists to a new destination. But for the model to work best, you need to align a host city or country with a participating team.

This model works, whether you are the Clipper Race or the America’s Cup World Series – tying the teams to the venues allows for a better return on investment for the host city.

The Volvo Ocean Race will be used by China to promote the city of Sanya as the ‘Hawaii of the Orient’, and to ensure the message is carried through the entire race, not just the Chinese stopover, a new team has been announced. Mike Sanderson, who has won the Volvo Ocean Race twice, will skipper the new Chinese entry to be called ‘Team Sanya’.

The announcement of Team Sanya brings the total number of entered boats to seven.

Mike Sanderson said at the launch of the new Chinese team in Beijing:

“This is a fantastic opportunity to race under the flag of such a great country and culture. We are building up a strong team and are ready to take on this exciting challenge. Our approach will be one of compelling intent, working fast and smart, representing this great country and team with ambition, dynamism and colourful energy.”

There is a sense that China, like Abu Dhabi, are willing to make large investments to use sailing as a mechanism to leap-frog other destinations in competition for tourism and investment. China will also compete for the next America’s Cup, with their team amongst those announced this week in San Francisco. Cities within China are also competing against each other for events, with Qingdao hosting the Olympics and the Extreme Sailing Series.

Li Quanhai, Vice Chairman of the China Yacht Association said:

“China is a sports power and has abundant marine resources. Our involvement in top sailing events, such as the Olympic Regatta and the Volvo Ocean Race, greatly improves the development of China’s water sports. The appearance of several high-level domestic games – such as the China Cup International Regatta and Hainan International Regatta – has drawn attention to the sport from the public. This will increase the popularity and development of water sports in China.”

Knut Frostad, CEO of the Volvo Ocean Race said:

“We are very excited about the news of Team Sanya and the return of Mike Sanderson, a veteran and true ambassador of the Volvo Ocean Race. This will be the seventh entry for the next edition and will not only bring a competitive yacht to our first class field but also will allow China to build on its already large sailing following. Team Sanya will allow the Chinese sailing fans to connect with the Volvo Ocean Race again and will be an amazing platform to engage with new audiences and attract potential tourists to Sanya and China itself.”

The Volvo Ocean Race is one event that can leave lasting infrastructure, both in terms of physical facilities, but also in terms of intellectual property and the skills and knowledge to stage and promote a major sporting event. Results from the last Volvo Ocean Race show that cities can use this legacy to bid for other events and deliver long term benefits.

The Deputy Mayor of Sanya, Wu Yanjun, agrees that the city will directly benefit from hosting the Volvo Ocean Race:

“Hosting world class events like the Volvo Ocean Race will directly improve our sailing and yachting related facilities. We can also use this opportunity to enhance our profile as a top tourist destination, showing our ability to host and manage world-class events. Team Sanya will be an ideal ambassador to promote Sanya and Hainan around the world.”

The city of Sanya will host the Volvo Ocean Race from the 4th to the 19th of February.

The chinese team will also benefit from a relationship with the finish of the race in Galway. Discover Ireland, promoting Irish tourism, will be a secondary sponsor of the Chinese team. Other sponsors include Helly Hansen as official clothing and apparel supplier.

More Volvo Ocean Race News…

The America’s Cup World Series will feature 10 boats. That’s the big news from San Francisco, where the organisers of the America’s Cup gathered to announce the line-up for the training events to be held in Cascais and Plymouth later in the year.

9 out of 10 sailing websites went with the prepared PR headline – “America’s Cup Teams welcomed to San Francisco,” proving that even when there is news, nobody bothers to do any work, far easier to paste the press release from the communications team verbatim. Cut & Paste content rules.

The numbers are a little confusing, so here is the breakdown. 10 boats, 9 teams, 8 challengers competing, 7 announced. ORACLE racing will send 2 boats to the first round of the America’s Cup World Series exhibition match in Cascais, Portugal. 7 challengers turned up in San Francisco for the press conference and one team (believed to be European) will announce their entry later.

For many, the line-up is not a surprise. The good news is that Team Korea and the Peyron’s Energy Team are in the group challenging for the America’s Cup. Unsurprisingly Australia is not there.

The Teams for the America’s Cup World Series

• China – China Team, Mei Fan Yacht Club
• France – Aleph – Équipe De France, Aleph Yacht Club
• France – Energy Team, Yacht Club de France
• Italy – Venezia Challenge, Club Canottieri Roggero di Lauria
• New Zealand – Emirates Team New Zealand, Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron
• Republic of Korea – Team Korea, Sail Korea Yacht Club
• Sweden – Artemis Racing, Kungliga Svenska Segel Sallskapet
• United States – ORACLE Racing, Golden Gate Yacht Club, (Defender)

The reason for ORACLE Racing’s two boat team as reported by AP is because “no other defense candidate has emerged” – which is a nice one line glossing over of months of politics and intrigue that no-doubt will come out at some point. In the mean-time, the ‘American’ team continues to spend bigger than any of its rivals on the travelling warm-up show that is the America’s Cup World Series.

Although the purchase of an AC45 and participation in the ACWS is compulsory for a challenge for the next America’s Cup, it seems that at least one team has not fallen for the distraction. Energy Team, who perhaps have more experience than any other team at sailing multihulls over 60 feet, doesn’t seem to fussed about the 45 foot version – with good reason. The results of the sideshow don’t mean anything – the real competition starts with the Louis Vuitton Cup in the AC72.

While Artemis Racing are now installed as the friendly Challenger of Record for the next edition of the cup, Energy Team is perhaps the one that will give ORACLE Racing the biggest challenge. One imagines that for Bruno Peyron to put his hand up and be on the list of challengers at this stage, the team has the commercial sponsorship required to compete for the ultimate prize.

Bruno Peyron said:

“Energy Team comes to the America’s Cup with great experience in world-class multihull racing. With this new format, we see an exciting opportunity to excel in the America’s Cup. The French public are huge fans of multihull racing so this move to new, dynamic boats will be great for the French sailing audience. And I have no doubt that the passion the French have for fast multihulls will be shared globally once people see these teams racing.”

While ORACLE Racing, backed by Larry Ellison flies the American flag, other teams may have more national support. Team Korea might not have the sailing pedigree of Energy Team or Emirates Team New Zealand, but the team could bring to bear enormous resources in order to win the Cup. The backers of Team Korea are the same people who created the Korea Match Cup, from nothing and in a short space of time have turned it into a nationally broadcast premier sporting event.

Dong-Young Kim, Team Principal said:

“We are very proud to represent the Republic of Korea’s first-ever Challenge for the America’s Cup. With a new boat and new format, Korea can enter the America’s Cup for the first time with a better chance of success. We look forward to building our team and racing the AC45s starting in Portugal.”

New Logo for the Louis Vuitton Cup

The America’s Cup Event Authority have also unveiled a new brand logo for the real America’s Cup challenger series – the Louis Vuitton Cup. The logo playfully hints at the NASCAR wreck element of the new America’s Cup – portraying an AC72 backwards and upside down with the wingsail in the water. The effect is to turn the sails of the boat into a representation of a yacht club burgee.

It’s a classy looking logo, but the connotations are not great.  One might think that Louis Vuitton, who is a global leader in design would think about such things.

Richard Worth, Chairman of the America’s Cup Event Authority said about the new design:

“In every sense of the word, the America’s Cup is reinventing itself, from our cutting-edge boats to breakthrough sporting technology to our visual identity. Everything about this new America’s Cup is designed around transforming the sport.”

Pietro Beccari, Executive Vice-President of Louis Vuitton, added his view on the logo concept:

“When we started to work on the new logo for the Louis Vuitton Cup, we wanted to give it a modern and dynamic design which reflects the spirit of the competition. We began by playing with the sails and the hulls of these huge boats, from which we found the inspiration for the logo of next Louis Vuitton Cup.”

More America’s Cup News

There are not that many sailing races that can put a city like Sanya in China on the map. The Volvo Ocean Race is one event that, through it’s unique global coverage, brings attention to new places who, in return, benefit from media attention and hopefully tourism and inbound investment.

During the last America’s Cup cycle, Alinghi had journalists scrambling through Google Maps to find Ras Al Khaimah, a little known emirate north of Dubai. We have to admit that we had to get Google maps out again to find Sanya, which is about as far south as you can get in China – south of Hong Kong and further south even than the Vietnamese city of Hanoi.

While Qingdao has been the host port for many international sailing events including the Olympics and more recently the Extreme Sailing Series, other cities in China are actively bidding for yacht racing events to support a growing appetite for marine activities. China will have one of the best funded America’s Cup teams for the next cycle which is backed up by a rapidly growing market for private yachts including superyachts.

China has an estimated 875,000 millionaires and nearly half of them want to buy a boat, according to a survey last year by the Hurun Report, China’s version of the Forbes Rich List. There is plenty of room for growth, with only about 1,300 private yachts in China, according to figures cited by state media.

It might take a while to convince people that China is a destination for yachting like the Mediterranean or the Caribbean, but hosting events like the Volvo Ocean Race, helps cities like Sanya to position themselves as “China’s Hawaii”.

Speakers at the recent Volvo Ocean Race press conference to promote the Sanya stopover, like Wang Yangjun, Deputy Secretary-general of Hainan Provincial Government, Li Quanhai, Deputy Director of Water Sports Administration Center under State General Administration of Sports, Chairman of Asian Sailing Federation and Vice Chairman of Chinese Yachting Association and Wang Yong, Mayor of Sanya City all believe in the ability of the Volvo Ocean Race to help fuel the growth of watersports in the country.

More Volvo Ocean Race News

The city of Qingdao is emerging as one of the world’s great sailing venues. This is not through a lucky accident of being on the right place on the map, but through long term planning and a willingness to invest in both infrastructure, industry and sporting events that promote progress. The Extreme Sailing Series is the latest word-class sailing event to be hosted by the ‘sailing city’.

The Extreme Sailing Series, which is a modern, fan-centric, innovation in competitive sailing, visited China for the first time in 2011, and the results have been spectacular in more ways than one. The event delivered some of the most extreme sailing, and compelling media output of the series’ history.

In the last 15 years, the list of cities able to stage international sporting events has grown substantially as governments recognise the importance of using sport to showcase infrastructure, investment opportunities and promote tourism.

In the sport of yacht racing, the makeup of the list of cities that are able to deliver world class events has changed significantly. This is due to a shift in the relative economic power of different regions as well as commercial promoters looking for more than just favourable wind conditions.

Cities like Cowes (UK), Newport (USA), Auckland (NZ), Capetown (South Africa), Marseilles (France) and Rio (Brazil) have staged well known sailing events largely because of being in the right place or through tradition, but in 2011, the criteria for hosting a major sailing event like the Extreme Sailing Series includes a demonstrable willingness by local agencies to invest in

Like many countries where trade is a major part of the culture, China has a long maritime heritage, however the 2008 Olympic Games provided Qingdao with an opportunity to promote the sporting side of sailing to the world. As well as the Olympics, the city has managed to attract events like the Volvo Ocean Race and is the base for China’s America’s Cup entry.

The demonstrated ability of Qingdao to successfully deliver big sailing events, combined with a larger investment plan for the city, was one of the reasons that attracted OC Thirdpole, the organisers of the Extreme Sailing Series.

While the America’s Cup hopes to deliver $1.4 billion dollars of gains to the city of San Francisco in 2013, the coastal province of Shandong has an investment plan of $38.6 billion to develop an ocean economic zone.

The Shandong Peninsula Blue Economic Zone will include programs for agricultural technology, new energy, international logistics, tourism and culture. 12 banks, including the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) have signed strategic cooperation agreements with the Shandong provincial government to support the plan.

Initiatives like the Shandong Peninsula Blue Economic Zone are bigger than just yacht racing, but events like the Extreme Sailing Series, are a great fit with a programme that has a goal to seek co-operation with businesses in China and internationally.

Rather than being complacent and trading of tradition, Qingdao is putting it’s money where it’s mouth is to focus on the development of a marine economy.

Creating an integrated programme that includes investment in infrastructure, tourism and culture gives Qingdao an edge over cities bidding for events based on their wind conditions alone.

Mark Turner, Chairman of OC Thirdpole, the organisers of the Extreme Sailing Series said:

When looking at where to stage events on a global tour, we have to consider a lot of things. Of course there has to be the right conditions for sailing, but the commercial considerations are incredibly important for us. The Chinese market is increasingly important for our partners and sponsors and there is also a growing appetite for this kind of sport by the Chinese people.

He added:

Qingdao has shown that it can stage huge events like the Olympic sailing in 2008. The Qingdao Volvo Ocean Race stopover was a great success and we are delighted to be able to stage the Extreme Sailing Series in China’s sailing city.

The Qingdao round of the Extreme Sailing Series was expected to be one of the most exciting and successful of the 2011 season, but the event delivered more than anyone could have imagined.

Day 3 of the regatta featured spectacular sailing action, with some of the world’s best sailors pushing the 40 foot carbon fibre catamarans to their limits in conditions right on the edge of the envelope for these boats. The Extreme Sailing Series lived up to it’s name with photos and videos of capsizes and crashes leading news bulletins around the world.

On the same weekend that the Chinese Grand Prix was delivering one of the most exciting and competitive Formula 1 races in a long time, China’s Sailing City of Qingdao was showing that it has what it takes to stage grand prix sailing events.

More Extreme Sailing Series News

Article first published as Qingdao, China’s Sailing City is Looking for Extreme Growth on Technorati.

Having the America’s Cup back in the USA is a great commercial opportunity for the Californian economy, and if the teams ever getting around to funding themselves with sponsorship dollars, then there will be sponsors who find a good match between the 2013 cup and their market, but for Louis Vuitton, the cup’s only announced partner, the emerging markets of China and the Middle East are more important than the mature, and relatively slow growing western markets.

It’s important for the Cup’s title partner to be able to leverage the next America’s Cup to their fastest growing markets, and therefore it is little surprise that China will contest the next event. It would also not be surprising to see a round of the America’s Cup World Series staged in China.

Unlike some of the other campaigns that have been announced, with little or no funding, the China Team has the full support of the Chinese Government, and the announcement also came with photos of Bruno Trouble and quotes from Yves Carcelle, Chairman and CEO of Louis Vuitton.

With a couple of years to run, and enormous resources, China Team could be a worthy challenger if they can find the right sailors.

Mr. Wang Chao Yong, chairman of China Team says:

“All boats need to be designed by the team, and built in country. We have been working with some of the best worldwide designers for hull and wings for a few months already, in partnership with top Chinese Universities. This is an opportunity to showcase China’s talents in the leading-edge hi-tech areas of both hydrodynamics and aeronautics. Our boat will then be built in China, and ready to sail by February 2012. China Team, a boat which will truly represent China, as most sailors will be Chinese.

The folks at ACEA trotted out the “Formula One cars of the seas” line again, ignoring that there is already several F1 of the seas (UIM Class One and there is also a UIM F1)

Thierry Barot, CEO of China Team has been busy recruiting champion sailors who will be responsible for training the sailing team.

“Our boat will be powered mainly by Chinese sailors, and we are very fortunate to have an elite team of international sailors to come to China and train our Chinese team”.

Richard Worth, Chairman of the America’s Cup Event Authority should be smiling. The China deal should sure up the commercial package a little. He said:

“We are very pleased to welcome our eighth challenger, China Team, to the 34th America’s Cup. China Team makes a wonderful addition, bringing another continent of athletes into our international field of strong competitors, as well as a very powerful market to add to the commercial strength of the 34th America’s Cup.”

Yves Carcelle, Chairman and CEO of Louis Vuitton said:

“China has a 600-year-old tradition of sailing! They will have to win the Louis Vuitton Cup and beat all the challengers before getting a chance to compete against the American Defender, Oracle Racing. Just the kind of challenge the Chinese relish!”

More America’s Cup News

The Evolution of the Yacht Race.

The Extreme Sailing Series has always delivered a great product to a specificly targeted market in Europe. In 2010, OC Thirdpole experimented with an Asian series to ‘test the waters’ in emerging markets and there has always been a sense that the tour for Extreme 40 catamarans could be a global offer.

In 2011, the Extreme series will visit not just Europe, S.E. Asia and the Middle East, it will also add a round in Turkey and the USA.

10 teams have already signed up to the series, but others may find some good arguments in the markets to go back to prospective sponsors, because the price tag of around £750,000 will be similar to the price for 5 European markets.

OC Thirdpole put on a good show in Estoril last night, but they missed one trick. As the team line ups were revealed at the end of the presentation, one skipper stood out. Torvar Mirsky, will helm one of the two Oman Sail boats in 2011. Torvar is not just a great sailor, he has the potential to bring a new audience to the sport. The young Australian already has a substantial, ’Facebook Generation’ fanbase and a large proportion of them are women.

This is Real Sailing – ISAF says so.

One of the criticisms levelled at the Extreme Sailing Series in the past is that the cocktail of entertainment, commercialism and sailing somehow detracts from the competitive nature of the event. Despite the fact that the event attracts top professionals from all disciplines, there are some irregular formats that would have some old-style sailing folk shaking their heads.

Those people aren’t really OC’s market, but the first person on stage for the 2011 Extreme Sailing Series launch was Secretary General of ISAF – Jerome Pels. It was win-win politics. ISAF get to look like they care about something other than the Olympics and are behind one-on-one drag race sailing, and OC get to position the Extreme Sailing Series as proper sailing.

The Extreme Sailing Series Global.

OC have made some strategic decisions about which markets to take the Extreme Sailing Series to in 2011. Like F1, there will be a European series within the worldwide calendar, but also like F1, the emerging markets are cities and countries where the tourism authorities ‘get it’. Turkey especially is a very savvy choice for a sailing event. When asked about the factors considered when choosing a venue, OC Thirdpole Chairman Mark Turner said:

There needs to be wind and weather and a stadium, but there also needs to be an engaged host venue.

Curious perhaps that Cowes, UK is still on the list of host cities for 2011.

The 9 race calendar will be.

1. Act 1: 22-24 February, Muscat, Oman (20-21 ‘open-water’ racing*)
2. Act 2: 15-17 April, China (13-14 ‘open-water’ racing)
3. Act 3: 27-29 May, Istanbul, Turkey (25-26 ‘open-water’ racing)
4. Act 4: 30 June – 4 July, Boston, USA (all days public event)
5. Act 5: 6-12 August, Cowes, UK (all days public event)
6. Act 6: 16-18 September, Trapani, Italy (14-15 ‘open-water’ racing)
7. Act 7: 30 September – 2 October, Nice, France (28-29 ‘open-water’ racing)
8. Act 8: 12-16 October, Almeria, Spain (all days public event)
9. Act 9: 9-11 December, Singapore (7-8 ‘open-water’ racing)

Turner has positioned the Extreme Sailing Series as unashamedly commercial. The teams have to justify their campaigns to sponsors, and the events have to make the numbers work. The objective is to make the Extreme Sailing seris the gateway to sailing for new brands and new venues.

Video interviews and more analysis will follow next week after the World Yacht Racing Forum, meanwhile there is a video replay of the 2011 launch here…