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.

Emirates Team New Zealand boss, Grant Dalton knows more than most about what’s really going on with the America’s Cup. In a wide-ranging interview with Sailing Anarchy, Dalton has put on the record several issues that have been bubbling away under the surface for a while. Remember that the America’s Cup is not your average boat race. Lawyers and back-room machinations are just as much a part of the process as on-the-water performance – something that newer teams may not be set up for.

Here are some of the issues covered in the 53 minute chat.

EmiratesTeamNZ.com will be redirected to AmericasCup.com?

The protocol governing the America’s Cup requires teams to redirect their URL to the official America’s Cup site. He says that the team were approached by a heavy hitting lawyer with a Dubai address which is why the team went down the route of trying to get some clarification of the rule.

With off the record support from all teams other than ORACLE Racing and Artemis Racing, Emirates Team NZ are looking to try and get the best deal for their sponsors who see online as a large part of the offer. Dalton refers to our article that highlights the improbability of Manchester United agreeing to redirect their website to that of UEFA.

For Dalton, the perfect solution would be a mirrored site. While ORACLE Racing say that all other teams have complied, the fact is that none of the other teams are really active and:

…have bigger problems than where to put their website. Like where they put the wing.

The solution for Emirates Team NZ will be to “live in social.” Dalton says:

In the end, we will give that away and supply it what it needs and live in social, because they are not controlling social. We’ll be on the site, but it will be pretty boring. Half the teams will be gone by the this time next year anyway. We will live in social to the detriment of the site because our sponsors need hight visibility.

The team also know that if the rules were applied to the letter, then they would have to comply, but the organisers have been willing to compromise on other issues.

They can beat us with a big stick over the protocol and they will win… If they roll us, and they can, then we just wont co-operate on anything, and we will just keep chucking grenades over the fence.

Sticking up for the Commercial Teams.

Despite America’s Cup organisers stating that they are trying to create a long term commercial success of the America’s Cup, Dalton believes that with the Defender and the Challenger of Record being funded out of private bank accounts, this will never happen. Emirates Team New Zealand just think differently.

As a (the) commercial team, we represent the commercial teams not the billionaire teams – we just think different. It is an impossible commercial model. The America’s Cup is in no shape or form at the moment a commercial model that is sustainable or even achieveable.

Dalton refers to a situation where organisers tried to take away the right to put the America’s Cup symbol on team merchandise. First they said it was allowed and then that right was taken away. Emirates Team NZ had minutes of the discussion and held their corner, but Dalton believes they are the only team that has the experience and the support to back themselves. This could be because the other teams are so indebted to the organisers for their existence so far. Dalton says:

The other teams are either too small or too timid to be able to fight these corners and we will continue to fight. Many of the teams will be too scared to write to them because they are scared for their own survival and I am sure that many of them haven’t paid for their AC45s in Cascais – if the reality is known.

America’s Cup World Series Vs Extreme Sailing Series.

The America’s Cup has set some big expectations, and they have set themselves against one of the most respected events and organisers in the industry. Dalton says:

Cascais is a pretty important event.The Extreme Series is a pretty good series. It costs a zillion times more to be in the Cup, and they have to get to that level yet. They have to be better, but frankly, they are going to have trouble getting to that level.

It’s fantastic to hear one of the sport’s leaders thinking about sailing as a whole and not just focussed on one little part of it. Grant Dalton knows that all entrepreneurial and commercial events should support each other and by doing so the whole will be increased. This trick has been completely missed by the America’s Cup. Emirates Team NZ have competed in the Extreme Sailing Series throughout 2011 and Dalton knows that relationships are as important as anything else. Emirates Team NZ will be at the Cowes round of the Extreme 40s depsite a (deliberate?) date clash with the America’s Cup World Series. Dalton says:

We are doing the Extreme 40. There are two reasons for that. One is that we want to support Mark (Turner), and as leader of the event it wouldn’t look good if the leader of the event pulled out. I hope that next year they can co-habitate because the Extremes 40 are great. We want to do both.

The America’s Cup World Series still haven’t provided a good reason why two of their events clash directly with the Extreme Sailing Series. While many in the business have speculated, Dalton has said it out loud:

(Ernesto) Bertarelli has money in the Extreme 40s now and I guess that hatred is still pretty strong.

The sport can work together on the calendar and even America’s Cup teams have worked to make sure that events didn’t work against each other:

But the TP52s do it well, the TP52 and the Farrs – we had guys on both and we never really had clashes. When we were putting the Louis Vuitton together, we made sure that we didn’t clash with the TP52s – and we didn’t want to hurt them.

On Different Approaches, Cultures and Budgets.

Emirates Team NZ, is a commercial team, and therefore they do things a little bit differently.

If you haven’t got any money issues, you could use AC45s for testing or a giant trimaran – Emirates Team NZ is instead using 33ft catamarans.

You couldn’t alter your 45, but now you can. Two more AC45s being built and we think they are for ORACLE for a test platform. 800,000 euros for a 45 and 2 33′s in the water for 2. You could spend 10 million dollars and stick it on a trimaran for testing like Artemis are doing. That’s way more useful. It’s a fallacy to think we have a lot of money.

There are about 4 people in the office in this place, then we have a lot of designers, but we are very careful how we spend money. There’s not a bunch of pixies that appear from santa’s sleigh and take the boats sailing when the other guys are not around – we’re a little team.

On Safety

The Extreme nature of the new America’s Cup means that there are things teams have to think about that they have never had to think about before. Dalton has had to completely change his approach to safety – and that’s just for the 45 foot version of the catamarans. When it is scaled up to 72 foot, then there is a high chance of serious injury.

I haven’t changed my opinion. I think it’s all very cool until someone gets seriously hurt. We have a medic on the water. We have two chase boats. There is no point having a diver, because once he has his regulator on – someone’s dead. You need a surf rescuer who can swim two lengths of a pool underwater, because I do believe they are dangerous.

That’s extreme, that’s cool and that’s neat, but it’s amazing how motorsport is not cool anymore when someone gets badly hurt. In San Francisco, the added element is cold-shock. And San Francisco is cold. The only thing we learnt when we tested cold-shock was that you would die.

Everything changes and you have to adapt. Maybe if its over 15 knots you need a chopper with a guy on the skids, ready to jump. Its a big issue and it hasn’t gone away, it’s just no-one has got badly hurt yet.

ACRM and Iain Murray are addressing it. Iain Murray is a really good bloke. That side of the organisation is great. ACEA is ineffective and we don’t even know what they do. When I think ACRM i think Mark (Turner) and when I think ACEA I can’t think of anybody.

Watch the Full Interview

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

America’s Cup challenger Emirates Team New Zealand has announced a technology partnership with DELL. It’s a great illustration of how sponsorship doesn’t always have to be a sticker on the side of a hull to have value to both parties.

Some sports marketing pros argue over the differences between a sponsorship and a partnership. Often the difference is just in the definition, but sometimes the sponsorship/partnership arrangement works on levels that are never seen by the spectators.

Consider the biggest costs for an America’s Cup team. Obviously there are ‘rock-star’ salaries. There is logistics and transportation – but to win the America’s Cup, you need computing power.

Commenting on the design of the BMW ORACLE trimaran that won the last Cup, Russell Coutts noted that the designers knew exactly how fast the boat could sail in a particular wind strength and sea-state – even though the sailors on board had to take a leap of faith to get the performance suggested by the modelling. As far back as 1983, when Australia won the Cup from the Americans for the first time, design was the difference.

Getting the most out of a 72 foot catamaran with a wing-sail isn’t something you do on a laptop. The computational grunt doesn’t just require processors, it requires power. By partnering with DELL, Emirates Team New Zealand gets to benefit from processes that have been tested through DELL’s relationship with Lotus F1, but the design side is not the only ‘best practise’ skill that ETNZ get from DELL.

DELL will also advise the Kiwi team on Social Media, something that none of the teams are particularly good at. DELL maintains over 26 Twitter accounts – each aimed at a different segment of the company’s complex market, and the company’s dedicated “Social Media for Business – Powered by Dell” Facebook page has more likes than any yacht racing property (50,455).

But is there more to this deal than will meet the eye of the fans? The technology platform that DELL will provide Emirates Team New Zealand will be a high-performance server cluster which includes:

Dell’s PowerEdge C servers and storage, software and a network optimised for such a configuration. A key feature of its architecture is power efficiency and ultra-density, giving it significant computing capability in a small footprint.

DELL doesn’t just have partners in sport. DELL has business partners that it needs to maintain strong relationships with – business partners like ORACLE. According to the DELL website:

Dell participates in the Oracle® Partner Program at the highest level. …In fact, Dell is the largest provider of Oracle database solutions among Oracle partners. But the true depth of the Dell™-Oracle alliance is best illustrated by the fact that both companies use Dell and Oracle platforms in their operations around the world:

• Oracle develops and tests much of its software on Dell PowerEdge™ servers and relies on more than 20,000 Linux® servers to power key elements of its Global IT operations.
• Dell entrusts several mission-critical business systems to PowerEdge servers running Oracle Database 10g — including its supply chain and its European order management system.

One might imagine that the value of the DELL / ORACLE partnership would be worth several times the budget of an America’s Cup sponsorship. Combine the value of that relationship with the b2b marketing benefits that DELL gets by using Emirates Team NZ as a partner marquee client alongside Lotus F1 and the company is well on the way to getting a return on investment – especially when their contribution to the deal is ‘in-kind’.

More America’s Cup 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

If there really is to be a ‘New Deal’ America’s Cup, where sailing teams can exist as sporting franchises through time without being bailed out by wealthy owners, then it is still a way off. If Emirates Team New Zealand struggles to find sponsorship, then the Cup is not quite the shiny, commercial beacon that the America’s Cup Event Authority (ACEA) wants it to be. Team NZ have consistently performed at the top of the sport and it seems to be forgotten by many that the team finished well ahead of BMW ORACLE in 2007, before quirks of the America’s Cup system installed BMW ORACLE as the challenger of record for the last disastrous edition in 2010.

However – with the help of new sponsors and the honoring of a government contract, Team New Zealand now have enough money to contest the next edition. Team boss Grant Dalton says there is another spot on the boat, and that he backs himself to sell it – but he also says that the job of raising money to keep the team competitive is a never-ending task.

Team New Zealand have benefited from a continuation of involvement in the America’s Cup by Nespresso. While a savvy brand marketing company like Nestle understands the hard commercials of such a deal, the black and white branding looks great with the Team NZ livery and the concept drawing for the new boat are pretty stunning.

Richard Girardot, CEO Nestlé Nespresso S.A. said:

‘We are pleased to continue our involvement in the world of sailing and extremely proud to be part of Emirates Team New Zealand as they challenge for the 34th America’s Cup in 2013. As the longest-standing America’s Cup team, their experience, expertise and innovative mindset, driven by a fighting team spirit is an inspiration for Nespresso and our employees. We wish Grant Dalton and the Team much success in the quest for the ultimate cup.’

Dalton said:

“Today we welcome Nespresso, a premium Swiss-based international coffee brand, as a team sponsor for the 34^th America’s Cup. Nespresso is well-known in sailing circles, a long-time supporter of the sport. Emirates Team New Zealand values its association with premium international brands like Nespresso, where continuous innovation and commitment to success are a core part of the culture.

“Today our long-term sponsors, Emirates Airline, Omega and Toyota New Zealand, who announced their continuing support previously, wished the team well in its quest.”

Richard Vaughan, Emirates’ Divisional Senior Vice President, Commercial Operations – Worldwide said:

“We are delighted Emirates Team New Zealand has been able to take the next major step on the America’s Cup journey to San Francisco,” said “When we renewed our commitment to the team last month we were confident in Grant Dalton lodging a successful entry for the challenger series. His resourcefulness and the team’s record of achievement have shone through once again and we very much look forward to watching Emirates Team New Zealand compete at the very highest level of world yachting.”

Team NZ will also benefit from long term partnerships with OMEGA and Toyota New Zealand.

With Emirates Team New Zealand now officially entered in the next America’s Cup, Grant Dalton is starting to sound like a Challenger of Record. The official holder of that position is Mascaloze Latino, but rarely does the team or the yacht club it represents make public statements. Dalton on the other hand, doesn’t seem to mind being quoted as criticising the way things are going. In an interview in recent days he said that one of the reasons that the team is competing in the Extreme Sailing Series, as well as being a great platform to come up to speed on how to sail a multihull, was because the team were disappointed in how light the AC45 program is and the lack of competing teams.

Dalton also warns that the switch to a 72 foot version of the America’s Cup catamarans will challenge the logistics capabilities of teams. He said that the AC45 was giving people a false sense of security. He said:

It’s ridiculous that you need a full size building crane to get a boat in the water to go for a sail – it’s just silly. But it’s a given and you have to accept it.

Dalton also scoffed at the PR line that the boats would lead to younger crews.

Look at the crew sailing on ORACLE – they’re all old – which is ironic when you think about the original statement.

More America’s Cup News

Russell Coutts is the only sailor to appear in a list of  athlete’s salaries by ESPN. His reported $10,000,000 salary also makes him the most highly paid New Zealand athlete.

While the sum might be relatively small compared to superstars in major sports, the ‘per-game’ fee is significant indeed. Coutts is perhaps more an administrator than a sailor these days, so his salary reflects his business interests around the America’s Cup and the RC44 series, but if you divide the salary by the number of competitive events that Coutts competed in during 2010, then you get a pretty nice number.

As always, our maths is done on the back of an envelope, so we might be out a little, but roughly if you consider; 6 RC44 events, 4 Louis Vuitton Trophy Event, 1 Corporate gig during Cowes Week (1851 Cup) and The America’s Cup you get about $833K per event.

The ESPN list doesn’t break down the sources of income – in fact is says that the number is a base salary only. But since his official website lists only Oracle Racing as a sponsor, it would be safe to say that not a lot of the headline figure was generated through endorsements, personal rights fees or licenses.

More Sailing Business News.

America's Cup jobs in NZ, but where do the profits go?

What’s the America’s Cup worth to New Zealand? It’s a question that has to be asked from time to time, given the investment in the America’s Cup by the New Zealand government, and while the television audience for the Cup may be only about half of the number that is expected to watch the Rugby World Cup to be staged in Auckland in September there is a desire for governments to invest in sailing events for reasons from tourism to marine infrastructure to national pride.

The America’s Cup has the potential to be bigger than the Rugby World Cup, with countries like Korea and China having a better chance of winning the America’s Cup than the World Cup of Rugby any time soon, but whenever there is government money involved, such investment becomes politicial, especially when a country with limited population and resources has to find the money to pay for things like the rebuilding of Christchurch.

New Zealand’s Acting Economic Development Minister David Carter has reconfirmed government support for Emirates Team New Zealand’s entry into the 2013 America’s Cup in San Francisco, but it is uncertain if this would be the case, had the funding not been guaranteed by a contract signed by the previous government. Under a commitment made in 2007, the NZ government is contracted to contribute up to $36 million to support Team New Zealand’s America’s Cup bid.

Mr Carter is quoted as saying:

“The funding has the potential to generate significant economic benefits for New Zealand, in particular for our world-class marine industry. With the eyes of the world on San Francisco in 2013, we will use the America’s Cup to our full advantage by showcasing New Zealand’s technology, products and services, and encouraging tourism. In the current economic climate, it is important that maximum benefit is gained from this significant investment of taxpayer money, and the Government’s expectations in this regard are clear.”

An independent economic impact assessment of the 2007 campaign showed a direct economic benefit to New Zealand of $74.4m. The funding also retains up to 100 highly skilled specialists in New Zealand, including yachtsmen, designers and engineers.

As Core Builders Composites, Ltd – the Auckland based manufacturer of the AC45, has increased the price of the catamaran to €695,000 (US$1 million), you would think that the NZ marine economy might be getting a nice little dividend, however the company is a wholly owned subsidiarity of Oracle Racing. In fact, the company was incorporated in 2000 as Oracle Racing Ltd and the name wasn’t changed until October 2010. So while there might be jobs being created and some hotel rooms being occupied by America’s Cup sailors as they train, it’s not known how much economic benefit will go to the New Zealand economy.

Nevertheless, Emirates Team New Zealand, who officially announced their entry into the next edition of the America’s Cup, has welcomed the Government’s intention to honor the contract.

Emirates Team New Zealand CEO Grant Dalton said:

“The Government’s contribution allows us to be competitive on the world stage. We are very much the arrowhead of a major New Zealand export industry and we take pride in showcasing the New Zealand brand, skills and expertise across the major yachting regattas of the world. The pinnacle for us will be to bring the America’s Cup home and with New Zealand’s support behind us, we plan to do just that.”

More America’s Cup Business News…

The new America’s Cup organisations have a big challenge. ACRM and ACEA are creating a world class sporting series from a standing start to flawless execution in a matter of months. While spectators are still in the dark as to where the events will take place around the globe, regatta personnel are using Auckland to test how the America’s Cup World Series will work from a logistical and media point of view.

The America’s Cup Event Authority (ACEA), who are responsible for the commercial, marketing and brand aspects of the America’s Cup and the people responsible for the media success of the event, will test what they call “next-generation broadcast images and graphics that change the way people will watch sailing on television.”

Following on from a long tradition of sailing innovating the way in which sports have been shown on television – from 18 foot skiffs in the 80′s on Sydney Harbour with on-board sound and cameras sailed on tight courses with massive terrestrial television audiences to the introduction of translating telemetry into 3D images in real-time during several versions of the America’s Cup – ACEA will introduce a new audience to how exciting televised sailing can be.

Richard Worth, Chairman of ACEA says:

“At each event, we want the viewer to not just see the action, but to really be part of it. Through our new on-board cameras and microphones, you will get to see the quick decisions being made, the athleticism of the sailors, the raw power of these boats – you will be right there with the teams as they fly over the water. Our new graphics overlay goes beyond being a viewing aid. This system will connect viewers to the racing in a way that has not been possible before.”

And for the anoraks, America’s Cup Race Management (ACRM) will use the test days to experiment with race course configurations aimed at delivering tight, tactical racing. There will be testing of umpiring and race management.

Iain Murray, CEO of America’s Cup Race Management said:

“We are launching a new racing product in July. We have developed new rules and now we need to test those rules on the water. We learned a lot of things about the performance of the AC45 during sea trials in New Zealand, but now we need to see them in simulated race mode. We will also test new race course configurations to make the racing more engaging for competitors and fans alike.”

The America’s Cup Event Authority continue to focus on the what rather than the who. Maybe it’s the influence of ORACLE that makes the America’s Cup World Series sound like a technology sell. It seems that fans should be wowed by the techniques used to bring the action to screens rather than the athletes who are competing in what is supposed to be sport at the end of the day.

We still haven’t seen how Mark Bullingham is going to turn the sailors into stars, but perhaps that’s going to be tested too.

More America’s Cup news…

The increasing  importance of the Middle East to professional sailing sponsorship has been highlighted again with the announcement of Emirates Airlines continued support for Team New Zealand. Emirates Team New Zealand, with the backing of the Dubai based airline will challenge for the 34th America’s Cup, the final of which will be held in San Francisco in 2013. The announcement coincided with the launch of the team’s twin hulled AC45.

Chairman and Chief Executive, Emirates Airline & Group, his Highness Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al-Maktoum said the airline was continuing its support of Emirates Team New Zealand because the yacht racing team had consistently proven itself both as a top competitor and brand-builder. He said:

“The decision also underlines our commitment to New Zealand at a time when the country is demonstrating its own strengths and resilience in the face of adversity. Whether it be the America’s Cup, the MedCup or the Louis Vuitton Trophy series, Emirates Team New Zealand has shown the fighting spirit and inspiration for which the country is renowned. We are very pleased to continue our support of Emirates Team New Zealand.”

Sheikh Ahmed outlined some of the factors that make America’s Cup sponsorship and particularly backing of Team New Zealand a good investment. He said:

“Exposure for Emirates through the team and its global reach has helped put the airline on the map in many parts of the world and with many audiences. We hope there is now the chance of building further on this excellent foundation. The features we saw in the team when we first backed it in 2004 are still there. As an award-winning airline, we can relate to its drive, focus, competitiveness and desire for excellence in all aspects of its operation.”

Emirates Team New Zealand Managing Director Grant Dalton said:

“We have made considerable progress because the Emirates Team New Zealand brand is an international leader, well recognised in the sport. Emirates Airline has been with the team since 2004 and their decision to stay with us is important. We are fortunate to have such loyal and committed sponsors.”

Dalton acknowledged that many sponsors and suppliers supported the team through a period when the America’s Cup was at its lowest. Brands including Emirates, Toyota New Zealand, a sponsor for 20 years, and Omega, a sponsor for 18 years – stood by the team between the end of the 32nd America’s Cup at Valencia in 2007, through the lamentable Deed of Gift saga between Alinghi and BMW ORACLE and allowed the team to stay together in series like the Audi Med Cup.

Dalton said the team would make a further announcement on its involvement in the 2013 America’s Cup in a couple of months.

“In the meantime we are developing the sailing team; the design team is working through concepts for the AC72 catamaran and we are continuing meeting with several potential sponsors.”

More America’s Cup Sponsorship News