The World Yacht Racing Forum has taken place again, with some of the sailing industry’s top people in attendance, talking about the business of yacht racing. Over the next few weeks, we will be transcribing some of the sessions that took place at the forum and giving you the chance to learn some of the best practice and insights from the panels.

Does Sailing Deliver Sponsorship ROI? : Featuring Mirabaud, BT Global Services and Kevin Roberts from Sportsbusiness as well as David Fuller from YachtRacing.biz. More…

Driving The Growth of Sailing Through Digital : Featuring people who are doing it, making apps, building Facebook pages and interfacing TV from boats to global TV networks. More…

Also at the forum, the Extreme Sailing Series announced its calendar and venues for 2012. We caught up with OC Thirdpole Chairman Mark Turner and asked him about a wide variety of issues. Watch the video here…

Recent Sailing Business Related News

If you still haven’t switched over to YachtRacing.biz, then you might have missed the following stories – and our particular take on them.

• Ben Ainslie clashes with cameraman at Perth 2011 World Championships – What does it mean for the sport?
• Audi pulls the sponsorship plug on the Med Cup. 
• Sam Davies announces new sponsor for Vendee Globe campaign
• RC44 Announces 2012 Calendar – Minus San Diego.

TAGS: FONCIA, FRANCK DAVID, IMOCA, MICHEL DESJOYEAUX, MOD70, OFFSHORE, ONE DESIGN, OPEN 60

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!”

More Volvo Ocean Race News

On the heels of the announcement that PUMA would be the Official clothing partner for the America’s Cup and ORACLE Racing, Emirates Team NZ have announced that their partner for the Volvo Ocean Race, CAMPER will also support the Kiwi team’s America’s Cup challenge.

The Mallorca based shoe company helps to leverage the sponsorship across multiple sailing platforms, though issues relating to internet rights for the America’s Cup may cause some logistical issues.

Camper Chairman, Lorenzo Fluxà said in a statement:

“Our involvement with the America’s Cup is a continuation of the relationship that we already have with Emirates Team New Zealand and the CAMPER team in the Volvo Ocean Race. We have made no secret of our desire to give our brand greater prominence to a more global audience and our involvement with the world’s two leading sailing events will serve to strengthen this position.”

Like many sailing sponsors, CAMPER are keen to allign their brand with values commonly associated with professional sailing. Teamwork and technology are two of the values which CAMPER believe will be promoted through their involvement in the America’s Cup.

Lorenzo Fluxà also understands the synergies of working with a family of sponsoring brands. He says:

“With the America’s Cup we have an opportunity to share a common project with a wide range of brands. We are very excited at the prospect of working with Brand New Zealand, Emirates, Omega,Toyota and Nespresso and the team’s suppliers to maximize the opportunities for us all in a venture that is very much in keeping with our own values and expansion plans.

“Camper is no stranger to doing things differently from their peers and over the past 25 years the company has made a name for itself by doing just that — from collaborations with some of the world’s most influential designers, like Mark Farrow, Shigeru Ban, Bernhard Wilhelm and Javier Mariscal, to opening hotels in Berlin and Barcelona, which embody the Camper brand spirit.

“Camper has always punched above its weight making it one of Spain’s most internationally recognized footwear brands, and again as the official footwear supplier to the team is pleased to take this relationship one step further.”

Emirates Team New Zealand managing director Grant Dalton, who is running one of the only purely commercial teams in the Cup said:

“The team is proud to carry the brand of a company with Camper’s reputation for excellence into the Volvo Ocean Race and now the America’s Cup. The Volvo Ocean Race project is in the process of relocating to Europe from New Zealand and tomorrow we start racing in the first regatta of the AC World Series that leads to the 2013 America’s Cup. We look forward to Camper joining the team and ‘family’ of sponsors on a demanding journey.”

More America’s Cup Sponsorship News.

An interesting juxtaposition in the latest news round-up by ORACLE Racing. Rather than back away from the ‘Facebook Generation‘ statement, Russell Coutts has brought it out again and once again said that the rules and format of the new America’s Cup are designed to make the event simpler and easier to understand. In the very next news item, ORACLE Racing introduce the new, simplified format that features 3 different disciplines, 4 different events and new courses.

So on the one hand, Russell Coutts is saying:

“Many of the rules changes we’ve made have been aimed at making the event more attractive to television and for non-sailors,” said Coutts. “It was obvious that we need a young audience; that we need to appeal to the Facebook generation. We prefer electronic boundaries that narrow alleys, so that the boats are forced to engage each other throughout the race. Now we will experience water blitz chess.”

And on the other hand, the organisers are putting out the following for the non-sailing Facebook crowd:

The course features a reaching start and gates at both the windward and leeward marks to be completed in this order: Start, M1 to port, Leeward Gate (M3/M4), Windward Gate (M1/M2), Leeward Gate (M3/M4), finish. The distance between the two gates will be lengthened to accommodate the longer fleet races and the start line repositioned accordingly.

Simple. But there is more…

The speed trials will be held over a 500-meter course, the length recognized by the World Sailing Speed Record Council for official speed records. A yacht shall start by passing to windward of the start boat within her start window. A yacht’s start window shall be the first 30 seconds of the minute allocated to her by the race committee. A yacht will be ranked on her highest average speed for a run.

Organisers have also released the ‘rules’ relating to spectator craft and the way in which the Facebook generation can watch the action from the water. Those with superyachts will get to park them along two sides of the course. Others will have to park their jet-ski’s, ribs, canoes and hobie cats 300 metres from the race-course.

Anyone who has attended an Extreme Sailing Series event will know that such measures are essential to stop accidents from happening at very high speeds, but some new fans who have been wooed to attend an event might not want to stay in one place or adhere to a 5 knot speed limit within a half mile of the course once racing has started.

More interesting is the rules relating to photography, video and advertising. Social Media has been highlighted as one of the way in which this Cup will be different from others, but the rules relating to photos and video seem to be written by the Flintstone generation of media rights people. It will be interesting to see how the ACEA police a piece of public space in relation to people filming the event with ‘home-type’ HD video cameras and posting it on YouTube.

It would also be interesting to see how the ACEA reacted to a boat like Hugo Boss being parked on the edge of the spectator area.

The Course Marshal Instructions say:

No vessel is to display any signage on or around the course area. The only signage that is approved is that of the sponsors of the Event and the bona-fide sponsor of a competing team.

In order to ensure that the rights of the Event Authority and the competitors are protected, the Captains of all vessels will ensure that no one on that vessel uses:

• any video recordinng or broadcast equipment in competition with the credentialed rights holders.

Still cameras and home-type video cameras are permitted for personal use only. No commerical exploitation on television, print, Internet or any other media (as news coverage or otherwise) of photographs or video taken aboard any Vessel, or transmission of any audio commentary of the races (including cellular telephone) from any Vessel, may be made without written permission of ACEA, except by credentialed media with rights to exploit such photographs, or video, or audio commetary, subject to restrictions imposed on such media.

More America’s Cup News

While it is great to see so many potential America’s Cup challengers announced for the next edition, most people have been sceptical about how many would ‘make it’ in the long run. Despite entry fees being reduced, rules relating to requirements bent, and significant concessions being made to attract teams into the process, the America’s Cup has announced that Venezia Challenge will not participate further.

In a carefully worded statement, organisers said:

The Italian challenger has advised that it was unable to meet required commitments within an agreed deadline. Accordingly the Golden Gate Yacht Club, has notified Club Canottieri Roggero di Lauria which is represented by Venezia Challenge, that the Italian Challenger has been excused from further participation.

The news might signal the end of speculation that, the America’s Cup World Series at least, would accept almost any team that expressed an interest. Clearly, the commercial models are not easily sellable to sponsors and teams require significant ‘venture capital’ from investors who are willing to put aside the lack of certainty about elements of the event.

The news is not as big a blow to the embryonic world series as the non-participation of teams like Mascalzone Latino, but Venezia Challenge was contributing to the marketability of the event to a younger audience through the announcement of Torvar Mirsky as helm for the team.

Iain Murray, the America’s Cup Regatta Director and Chief Executive of America’s Cup Management Limited advised:

“Following discussions and attempts to resolve in a timely way, there was an agreement to meet certain obligations by this weekend and the deadline passed.”

Tom Ehman, Vice Commodore of the Golden Gate Yacht Club summarised the story to pad out the statement for the press. He said:

“Venezia Challenge failed to fulfil its commitments to remain eligible to continue in the 34th America’s Cup,”

Meanwhile, we wait to see how the Cascais opener of the America’s Cup World Series will live up to the massive expectations that organisers have built around the event. We are expecting a revolution in the way the television product will deliver a new and exciting form of sailing to a new audience, however the task of simplification has been made more difficult by running 3 different sailing disciplines in the same event: fleet racing, match racing and a new speed-trial format.

More America’s Cup News

As the America’s Cup World Series draws the attention of old and new sailing fans to Cascais in Portugal, the battle off the water for the hearts, minds and disposable income of those fans heats up.

In the highly competitive sailing apparel market, brands have more opportunity to realise a return on sponsorship through direct sales of team merchandise. A couple of folks, who have a casual interest in the America’s Cup might buy a souvenir of an event, but real fans will want the gear worn by their team.

On the back of the news that CORUM would be a partner, ENERGY Team France have announced that their sailing clothing brand of choice will be Marinepool. The company which is also the official clothing partner of the Extreme Sailing Series will be the “Official Technical Clothing Partner” for ENERGY Team’s challenge for the 34th America´s Cup.

Bruno Peyron, CEO, Energy Team France said:

“We are very happy about this partnership between Energy Team and Marinepool and are looking forward to a very succesful cooperation.“

In a statement, Marinepool said:

“Marinepool is proud to be part of this challenge and to join two of the world´s finest sailors in their effort to win the last trophy that has eluded them and their nation. Team Energy France will exclusively wear Marinepool technical gear renowned for it´s quality and cutting edge technology and design.”

If there are other clothing and apparel deals done for the America’s Cup, it’s hard to find them. Yesterday we overlooked the fact that Louis Vuitton had been announced as the Official Timekeeper for the event, but as the teams get to grips with migrating their online presence to the official America’s Cup website, activation of sponsorships (and partnerships) seem to be taking a little bit of a back-seat.

Even ORACLE Racing, which is long established, makes no mention of their Official clothing partner(s) on their section of the website.

Having watched what Marinepool have done with the Extreme Sailing Series, and with the experience and business savvy of the Peyron brothers, it would be reasonable to expect that the ENERGY Team deal (which is on the partners part of the Energy Team section of the America’s Cup website) will generate some good awareness and sales.

More America’s Cup News.

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.

More Volvo Ocean Race News

It’s not the America’s Cup without some luxury timepiece sponsorship. While no official timekeeping partner has been announced at a series level yet, the French challenger, ENERGY TEAM has announced CORUM as its first official partner.

Like many watch brands, CORUM has a long history supporting sailing. Traditionally, the demographic of the America’s Cup used to line up nicely with the market for upmarket timepieces. Despite a campaign to make the event appealing to a new audience, one expects a large part of the fanbase for teams like ENERGY to be those who are fans of Loick Peyron, a long-time CORUM ambassador.

Antonio Calce, CEO of Corum comments:

“This major project is a further step in our strategy that I announced and launched several years back. Taking part in the America’s Cup is the dream of every sailor and for that reason matches the aspirations of a brand like Corum, which since 1960 has been a key player in the sector. The close relationship based on trust that has developed between Corum and the Peyron brothers has enabled this dream to come true.”

Bruno Peyron added:

“It is with immense pleasure that our team welcomes Corum on board as the official partner of Energy Team. It takes courage to be the first, as there are on the one hand doubters and then on the other those, who are determined to make their own destiny. Antonio Calce is one of the latter and the atmosphere of mutual trust that we are building together is probably down to what we already have in common: a great desire to see things through. The support of Corum is vital and this commitment will act as a catalyst to attract other major partners and allow us to get going in building our first AC 72.”

And while we wait to see how the new America’s Cup World Series in Cascais and Plymouth will change sailing forever, ENERGY TEAM have their minds on the long term game. For Bruno Peyron, the speed trials off Estoril beach mean nothing when it comes to beating ORACLE Racing in an AC72 in San Francisco.

The America’s Cup World Series is compulsory for teams challenging for the 34th America’s Cup and provides good training on a scale model of the boats that will eventually compete, but reading Bruno’s answers to interview questions about the ACWS, you can tell his mind is elsewhere – a Multiplast yard in Brittany to be precise.

When asked what objectives have been set prior to the start of the ACWS events, Bruno Peyron responded:

The sporting objective isn’t really a priority in this first test. The important thing was to be there and we’re there! The objective is not to be too far behind the top 3 teams, who have been training for months, so as we can be in a position to be a serious threat to them between now and midway through the season. It would be a big mistake to be overly confident. Of course finishing at the top of the Challengers’ leaderboard would be the best possible outcome.

CORUM is the first of the team’s partners that will enable the team to focus on the real goal. Peyron said:

We’ll reveal the first partners as soon as the boat’s launched this week. The construction of the global economic operation is continuing and we hope to be in a position to balance the budget in the next 3 months so as we can get going with our first AC 72 before the end of the year at the Multiplast yard in Vannes, SW Brittany. Everything is now in place to move up a gear in September.

More America’s Cup News

We’re very uncool at yachtsponsorship.com. We love old fashioned match racing. Part of that appreciation was built through attending Match Cup Sweden in Marstrand, an event which is far from being old-fashioned. Despite being run in the same place in the same calendar slot for the last 17 years, the event continues to be one of the most innovative sailing events anywhere.

While the America’s Cup has taken some time to climb aboard the ‘stadium sailing’ bandwagon, Match Cup Sweden could rightfully claim to be one of the first events to provide spectators with a vantage point that is close enough to touch the boats sailed by some of the best sailors in the world. The term ‘natural amplitheatre’ has become almost a cliche since ORACLE racing announced their decision to host the America’s Cup in San Francisco, but even San Francisco Bay doesn’t compare to the Marstrand racetrack. In NASCAR terms, if San Francisco is Daytona, then Marstrand is Bristol.

With regret, we couldn’t attend this year’s event in Sweden, however – by all accounts, the event continues to impress with it’s professional management and delivers for fans as well as business stakeholders.

Here’s what first time visitor Markus Pettersson thought of the event

As a first time visitor, it was interesting to visit the machine that Match Cup Sweden has become over the past years. Having worked in league sports like basketball and football for a large part of my career, it was fascinating to see the other side of the coin from within: a one time event in nature’s own arena, with equipment worth millions of dollars and an upper class crowd. I must say that it was a very impressive show. Sailing in itself was much more exciting live than I would ever have thought, and I left Marstrand feeling that this is a sport and industry I really want to get to know better. Sailing has sure had it’s 15 minutes in Swedish mainstream media 10-20 years ago, but have lost ground to the all-eating football monster since then. There’s no doubt however that the potential is there to become a major player again, especially if more cities around the country can bring sailing to arenas that are easily accessible like in Marstrand.

The greatest commercial impression I walked away with was how well several sponsorships had been activated, with the Stena group topping the chart. They owned the entire village of Marstrand, and could be seen anywhere and everywhere, no matter if you were there as a corporate visitor or a kid with your parents. There were giveaways for the kids, sailing for sponsors, cheap travel deals, a recycling crew constantly keeping the arena and surroundings fresh and clean, and what not – and more or less everybody visiting or working at the event sported attire branded by Stena. Honorable mentions also goes out to Good Year and Pelle P clothing for their activation.

Personally, I was there to work for newspaper Göteborgs-Posten with our sponsorship of the Junior Arena together with the GKSS sailing club and Passalen. Our primary task was to help young people with and without disabilities to try sailing, and we had a blast doing it. Seeing the happy faces of all those kids was surely rewarding, and we hope to develop it even more for next year’s Match Cup. Junior Arenas at events like these are maybe what it would take for sailing to get back to where in belongs – at the top of Evereyday Joe’s mind!

The World Match Racing Tour has partnered with Swedish digital communications experts Sigma, who have used Match Cup Sweden as a platform to promote to a wide audience.

Sigma CEO Hakan Karlsson is convinced of the benefits of being involved in the event. Commenting on the World Match Racing Tour website he said:

It’s all about branding for Sigma. In the Swedish IT industry we are very bad at actually marketing ourselves, we just work, work, work, and we don’t tell the customer how good we are. To be able to bring our clients to such a stunning location and show them great brand presence, hospitality, and racing was an opportunity not to be missed.

Sailing is quite a niche market but here on the west coast of Sweden it is huge. If you look at a sport like football it is just one match but for Stena Match Cup Sweden there is a whole week of racing which brings in a huge amount of media attention. Last year we had Sigma branding on the front page of Gothenburg’s biggest newspaper three days in a row thanks to Stena Match Cup Sweden which is much more visibility than you would get from sponsoring other sports.

And while Match Cup Sweden gets Sigma national exposure, the partnership with the World Match Racing Tour helps to build awareness of Sigma around the world. Karlsson continues:

Marstrand is the biggest sailing event in Sweden and it’s vital for us because most of our clients are from Sweden. However, the World Match Racing Tour is obviously a well-known global sailing brand and it is something we at Sigma want to be associated with. Our partnership with the World Match Racing Tour is a natural progression in our global business model. We currently work in nine countries around the world and we want to expand that.