As part of the three year deal, Gill will supply event organisers with clothing as well as develop a merchandise range. The sponsorshp will be activated with a series of competitions.

Commenting on the announcement, Michelle Warner, Sales & Marketing Director for Cowes Week Limited says:

“We are really excited about working in partnership with Gill and increasing the value we are able to offer participants racing at Cowes Week. Gill is hugely respected by the sailing fraternity and the partnership represents some fantastic opportunities for us both.”

Founder and Chairman of Gill, Nick Gill adds:

“Cowes Week is an internationally iconic event and one that Gill is extremely proud to be associated with. We are looking forward to working with the Cowes Week team to develop a great range of event clothing and a great presence for our brand at the world’s premier sailing regatta.”

The Audi Med Cup 2010 starts in two months time with the the first regatta; the Portugal Trophy. Activity throughout the TP52 fleet has been building up progressively over recent months.

Small changes to the TP52 Class Box Rule mean that all of the teams which plan to compete at this season’s five Audi MedCup Circuit regattas or the TP52 World Championships in October are required to have made the prescribed modifications to their existing boats: adding 150kgs of weight to the keel to compensate for the reduction in crew weight, moving to a ‘square-top’ mainsail with twin backstays and increasing spinnaker area and adopting bowsprits.

Organisers expect 10 to 13 boats in the TP52 class and five or six in the GP42 class including the new Juan Kouyoumdjian designed boat for TEAMORIGIN nearing completion at Salthouse Boats in Auckland.

Mike Sanderson, CEO of TeamOrigin said:

“The schedule was always going to be tight but we are on time. The boat is due to leave New Zealand in the middle of March. We have it booked on a fruit ship which means it is pretty reliable because if it gets late then the fruit goes rotten.”

Current Audi MedCup champions Emirates Team New Zealand completed their modifications in-house and have been trial sailing the new configuration on the waters off Auckland in excellent conditions. Otherwise, explains CEO Grant Dalton, the only change to their winning set up is the new paint job. They will sail with exactly the same core sailing team, with the exception of the reduced crew number.

2008 Audi MedCup champions Quantum Racing, who finished overall runners-up are believed to have taken the opportunity to update their deck profile and have made a bigger winter refit. Torbjorn Tornqvist’s 2007 champions Artemis, third overall in 2009 have a busy sailing season planned and will be back to challenge hard. Alberto Roemmers’ team of Matador start training on March 19th as a build up to the Palma Vela regatta, where up to five teams will race including Artemis, Cristabella Matador and Synergy are expected to take part.

Home hopes for the opening regatta will be with Pedro Mendonça’s Bigamist who have been winter training hard off their native Cascais. Their prolonged training together was the foundations for a very successful 2009, and so on their own local waters, the Portuguese team have a good chance of starting the 2010 Audi MedCup season on a high note.

Finally, the circuit remember the fans…

An official statement from the series says:

“The new season starting in two months will not just add new teams, rules and venues, but a new effort in popularising both the Audi MedCup Circuit and the sport of sailing.”

Fernando Iñigo, Audi MedCup Circuit and World Sailing Management Marketing Director, explains:

“We are working on consolidating the TV successes we achieved in 2009, including important innovations that we will reveal soon which will revolutionise the way we communicate the sport of sailing. Apart from that, we are designing a new and more ambitious public area in order to keep on evolving our goal of making the Audi MedCup Circuit more popular. In that sense, the two new venues, Barcelona and Cascais, are key”.

At today’s announcement, Volvo Ocean Race CEO Knut Frostad said:

“I am very proud to confirm Ireland’s participation and Galway will be a magnificent port to stage the finish of the event. We have already experienced the enthusiasm that abounds in Ireland for the race and we are looking forward to bringing the competition to its conclusion in a country that really knows how to celebrate.”

At a press conference to mark the occasion, Irish Taoiseach Brian Cowen, said:

“The 2009 stopover in Galway made an abiding impression on the sailors, support crews, organisers and media, who were immersed in the warmth of an Irish welcome. Their presence, in turn, had an enormous beneficial impact on Galway, the west of Ireland and indeed the entire country. Their arrival here was spectacular and their visit helped generate a massive 55 million Euros for the regional economy, more than one third higher than the original projections. Given its economic benefits and its importance to Irish tourism, I am more than happy to welcome the return of the Volvo Ocean Race to our shores and pledge our support for the event.”

http://www.volvooceanrace.com/news/article/2010/MARCH/GALWAY-ANNOUNCEMENT-100310/index.aspx

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There was 1 race yesterday in  6-8 knots of wind. Three laps of a course in sunny, but hazy conditions.

Results on Day 1 were Andrew “AMAC” McDougall (AUS), Michael Lennon (GBR), Brad Funk (USA), Chris Graham (UAE) and Simon Payne (GBR).

Puma Moth Worlds 2010 - Day 1

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Puma Moth Worlds, Dubai Offshore Sailing Club, Dubai, UAE, 2010, Image by David Fuller.

All photos by David Fuller

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Last week, the French press ignored the embargo date for the news that Lorient would be the second European stop and set tongues wagging about how the French stopover may scuttle any chance for Galway to host the race. Some commentators have speculated that the clever PR folks in Alicante have been carefully using the leaks to keep the race announcements in the news, but whatever the strategy, there are a lot of people waiting for the route to be revealed.

Both the Irish Times and the Galway Advertiser are today predicting that rather than lose a stop on the race, Galway will in fact host the finish of the race. The Advertiser is more cautious of the two outlets saying:

To secure the finish of the race would have been thought to have been beyond the wildest dreams of the Galway backers, but in the past few days, it has become a strong possibility…

The paper quotes ‘Let’s Do It Galway’ Chairman John Killeen:

“To compare it to a game of rugby, we are 10 points up with 10 minutes to go. We are nearly there, but not yet, and while I am reasonably confident, there are always pitfalls. The Volvo officials are keeping their cards close to their chest on this one, but the official announcement is expected next Tuesday.”

The Irish Times is more confident, with the headline : “Cowen to detail Volvo race’s Galway finish,” then says;

“Cowen is expected to confirm this week that the next Volvo around the world yacht race will finish in Galway in 2012. Mr Cowen is expected to make the announcement in Dublin, when he will explain that the race festival will be an “all-island” affair.”

The economic benefit of the previous stopover in Galway is well known and the Government has committed €4 million towards the new bid. The Irish Times also reports that the Green Dragon will compete – she will be given a new keel, its sails will also be modified, and all this work will be carried out in Ireland, John Killeen of Let’s Do It Galway has confirmed.

In 2009, the Manchester based clothing company did a deal to be one of the only sponsors on the Brawn GP car that Jenson Button used to win the F1 championship.

The deal was probably one of the most lucrative of 2009 anywhere in sport. Not only did the brand get to position itself to a completely new global audience, but sales of t-shirts, jackets and caps would have dwarfed any merchandising revenues the company had ever received from sailing.

In 2010, Brawn GP has become MERCEDES GP PETRONAS and Henri Lloyd are still on board. Graham Allen, Henri Lloyd Commercial Director states:

“We are delighted to be partnering with MERCEDES GP PETRONAS for the 2010 Formula One season and have been working closely to ensure we provide clothing at the highest levels of fabric technology that provide the ultimate comfort and durability needed in all conditions. These same principles are also being carried through to a new Merchandise Collection. We are very much looking forward to an exciting season and to support MERCEDES GP PETRONAS all we can!”

Hopefully the relationship can bring some benefits back to sailing. It would be great to see Mercedes involved at a top level in yacht racing.

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