We Expect Big Things From the America’s Cup on September 13th.

BMW ORACLE have announced that they will announce some announcements on the 13th of September. The defender of the America’s Cup and the Challenger of Record will make public a new and exciting America’s Cup boat class and reveal the protocol to govern the 34th edition of the event at a press conference in Valencia.

Speculation has been rife over the last few weeks that BMW ORACLE has chosen multihulls as the preferred boat for the next cup. While the defender is promoting the change as the result of open talks with all parties, there doesn’t seem to be a lot of public support for multihulls amongst traditional Americas Cup players.

The America’s Cup has always been about the defender creating rules that maximise their chances of retaining the trophy. BMW ORACLE have been cleverly using the promise of billions of dollars of TV rights money and the specter of recent court battles to push a boat rule that gives them an R&D head start of several years over their competitors.

The Defender’s line in the media has been that the America’s Cup has to appeal to a young television audience. While most would agree with this principle, the degree to which you have to change the event is very much up for debate.

TEAMORGIN’s Iain Percy wasn’t pulling any punches on where he stands as a sailor. Taking aim at those who would change sailing to appeal to ‘Generation Y’ (with a side-swipe at the Extreme sailing Series, and bankers) he said:

“I can say though that ‘toss a coin TV show racing’ is not my cup of tea. I have nothing against people doing it, I even have friends who are bankers, but for me it isn’t sport. Competitors in any sport need to have a primary and totally overpowering goal of winning by being better than the opposition, that is what separates boxing from WWF wrestling. That is why grown men cry at a football match and only adolescent teenage boys (who haven’t yet discovered girls) like Hulk Hogan. So that’s how I answer my fundamental question: that sailing needs to be a fair challenge of physical, technical and tactical abilities over a series of races.”

Percy goes on to blame the media for pushing a commercial agenda saying:

Other groups use serial bloggers to represent their point of view…

We’re sure that Iain wasn’t talking about yachtsponsorship.com, but we are quite happy to stop reporting on the ‘Race for Change’ and other TEAMORGIN commercial partnerships if we are somehow compromising the sport by doing so.

Percy is right though – that the America’s Cup is about money. It is either private money, coming from wealthy individuals like TEAMORIGIN backer Sir Keith Mills or BMW ORACLE’s Larry Ellison, or it is money generated by the sport. Whoever is funding it, the cup has to be packaged up and sold.

On the 13th of September, BMW ORACLE will announce a decision that will have massive implications for the sport – one way or another. If they are making a change for the future, and not just because it helps them retain the cup then we expect big things.

We expect that the defender can show real numbers to back up their decision. Real numbers in this case doesn’t mean that potential team owners voted 10-8 in favour of multihulls.

We expect that the anonymous TV executives that are quoted by Russell Coutts have done some quantitative research into the Americas Cup audience and can show that the Generation Y segment will generate more ratings, more advertising revenue and higher lifetime value than the installed (but latent) fan-base.

We expect that there has been some 3rd party polling that shows television audiences, given a choice between basketball, x-factor and the America’s Cup sailed in catamarans,  would choose the latter – at least for the organiser’s target demographic.

We expect that those who are the current custodians of the America’s Cup have tried everything they could to maintain the integrity of the product so that it can stand alongside classic sporting trophies like The Ashes, Le Mans, the Rugby World Cup, the Ryder cup or Wimbledon – events that haven’t diluted their format.

We expect to hear teams that have invested heavily in the sport, through events like the Louis Vuitton Cup, the Audi Med Cup and the World Match Racing Tour,  in order to stay together through the last America’s Cup cycle come out in public support of the new Boat Class rule.

We expect, whatever is decided, that not everyone will be happy. The America’s Cup is dead – long live the America’s Cup.

More America’s Cup News….

Jaguar’s Sponsorship of America’s Cup Style Sailing Delivers.

The 1851 Cup surprised me. Initially I was sceptical about the exhibition match between TeamOrigin and BMW ORACLE to commemorate the original race around the Isle of Wight that became the America’s Cup, but having experienced the event last week in Cowes and having seen the coverage that was generated for the sport in non-sailing press, it was a resounding success.

Perhaps most surprising of all was the action. While the Defender (the challenger seems to be MIA) continues speculation about competing the 34th America’s Cup in a multi-hull, the version 5 boats provided exciting action in the strong Solent breeze.

The 55 mile ‘Around the Island’ race could have been a rather dull affair, but James Spithill and Ben Ainslie raced it as if they were on a 1 mile match racing course. Added to the aggressive match racing tactics were ripped spinnakers and broken spinnaker poles and sailing on the very edge of the envelope that the boats were designed for.

Perhaps sensing that the race would not deliver the picture perfect finish, the rules were rigged in a NASCAR style agreement that had many followers totally confused. Apparently both teams agreed that if one was too far ahead at a certain point, they would restart with a one minute time penalty to the boat that had been behind. To the non-sailing guests that I was with, it made a bit of a mockery of the whole thing. Comparisons with WWF wresting were made, which is hardly the kind of perception you want to give newcomers to the sport.

The other downside was that the racing took place so far offshore. This is partly because of the amount of water needed to sail the boats and partly because Cowes Week gives priority to the other races. Like many of the America’s Cups of the past, the action could only be followed by boat. Although images were beamed back to a shoreside screen with live commentary augmented by ‘Virtual Eye’ 3D animation, the event doesn’t come close to the spectator experience provided around the corner by the Extreme Sailing Series.

No doubt, Jaguar’s opportunistic sponsorship of TeamOrigin for the event would have delivered a pretty decent ROI. It remains to be seen whether the deal will last longer than the ‘Summer of Sailing’. Many of the sponsorship decisions related to the America’s Cup will be put on hold until key information is released – including where the events will be sailed.

More America’s Cup News…

WSTA Kills Hong Kong Louis Vuitton Trophy Event.

The series that was designed to give America’s Cup teams something to do between protocols has been wound up. The World Sailing Teams Association, together with Louis Vuitton and the Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club have announced that the Hong Kong event, which was to be raced in January 2011, will not go ahead.

There is some doubt as to whether the final event in Dubai will go ahead either, though the success of last week’s 1851 Cup exhibition match between TEAMORIGIN and BMW ORACLE indicates that the Dubai regatta might provide a fitting finale and send off for the Version 5 America’s Cup boats.

The World Sailing Teams Association (WSTA), a partnership between several America’s Cup teams and Louis Vuitton, will now probably now morph into some kind of challenger organisation, though not all teams who would seek to compete in the next America’s Cup have paid the WSTA dues.

The collapse of the WSTA and the Louis Vuitton Trophy was perhaps inevitable, though things might have been different had Alinghi won the 33rd Cup. Once the America’s Cup process was back on track, the teams involved would focus their resources on their preparations for the 34th America’s Cup. The opportunistic nature of the regattas might have been known internally in the Cup community, but to some outsiders, the Louis Vuitton Trophy looks like yet another failed attempt to create a top level world tour in sailing. This is especially disappointing, since the LVT diverted resources from more established regattas and events.

The press release from the WSTA says:

Now, the America’s Cup is back on track as a multi-team event with fair rules managed by a neutral authority and multiple America’s Cup Championship regattas culminating in the next Match. The new holder of the America’s Cup, San Francisco’s Golden Gate Yacht Club, will confirm the venue of the 34th America’s Cup, and timing (2014 or 2013) later this year. A South East Asia venue is under consideration for one of these ACC regattas.

It will be interesting to see if the WSTA ever release any metrics about the three Louis Vuitton Trophy regattas. While the New Zealand event capitalised on a national passion for the sport, the European events didn’t seem to generate the same amount of interest or coverage. Trying to maintain momentum through a 2 week event format never really worked and the scary thing is that these are the same people who are promising revolution in the 34th America’s Cup.

We wait to see if the Dubai event happens. . .

More America’s Cup News…

America’s Cup Video Mashup Begins in Valencia.

There is a temptation to delay reporting on the America’s Cup TV trials in Valencia until there are some decisions made. A sailing team sticking a bunch of cameras on two boats is not exactly news and down the beach a bit in Barcelona, you can watch America’s Cup teams like TEAMORIGIN and Emirates Team NZ compete in real racing in the Audi Med Cup.

Nevertheless, the project to make the next America’s Cup a televisual feast has begun and sceptics are hopeful that something good will come out of the investment. Popular sailing blog, Valencia Sailing said:

If this is not a genuine, open and open-minded attempt at making the America’s Cup and sailing much more accessible to the media then I’ll be damned! As you’ll see in the photos there are plenty of cameras, cameramen and photographers, some of them in the most unusual places. Some of the ideas will certainly turn out to be useless, impractical or even stupid. However, I’m sure that some others will give us great footage. Unless you try all of them, you’ll never know if they work or not.

16 cameras captured over four hours of sailing in a combined 60 hours of video as Russell Coutts and James Spithill of BMW ORACLE Racing tested two RC44 monohulls side by side in a series of close-proximity maneuvers.

Three onboard cameramen (two on one boat) augmented the fixed and remote control cameras, and upwards of 25 microphones, including surround-sound microphones, captured the crews’ voices and ambient noise.

Russell Coutts said:

“I thought we certainly achieved what we set out at the beginning of the day, which was to get baseline viewing angles for comparison later in the weekend when we try to alter the racecourse and carry out similar exercises in X40 multihulls. “This evaluation process is all about testing new ideas, and we did that.”

Filming the action is one thing, but there is also a sense that the rules might have to be changed to force sailors to break habits. The official statement from yesterday’s sailing gives some clues to some of the ideas that organisers have for more exciting sailing:

The action became intense when the start box was limited to five boatlengths in width and depth. Required to stay inside the box, the two crews circled around each other for three minutes before breaking off to head to the start line.

The aim is to have the footage available to view on the blog of the official America’s Cup web site so that the public can comment, but even with the technological grunt of ORACLE behind the project, getting 60 hours of Video onto the internet is a challenge. The HD footage is still being ‘ingested’.

More America’s Cup News…

Nordic Mast and Southern Spars Merge.

Nordic Mast and Southern Spars will merge, following an announcement by shareholders and directors.

The new entity will employ over 350 staff, and will be better equipped to compete on the world stage, supplying a comprehensive range of high quality carbon fibre masts, booms and carbon rigging to meet the demands of all market sectors. Taking effect from 19 July 2010, the merger is a timely combination of two highly regarded mast companies that have operated in different geographic and market sectors.

David Glen, Group General Manager, comments:

“At Southern Spars we have been looking for some time to both increase our presence and commitment to the European market, and expand our product offering in carbon masts and carbon rigging. Southern Spars is a market leader with innovative mast and carbon rigging concepts for the grand prix race, ocean racing, and performance superyacht markets. We now will have the opportunity to collaborate with the team at Nordic Mast who have considerable experience and presence in the European smaller race boat, performance cruiser, and production cruiser markets.”

Southern Spars has strong design technology and tools developed through its involvement in America’s Cup, Volvo Ocean Race and other international race boat programmes. Glen continues:

“Southern’s design software, Rig Calc, has the added advantage of integrating into the North Sails design software to produce an optimum rig /sail package, and this technology will now be available and of benefit to all customers of yachts from the foiling Moth and Olympic classes through to production cruising yachts, race boats, grand prix race boats and superyachts.”

Nordic Mast also has extensive experience in manufacturing quality carbon masts for comparatively smaller race boats, performance cruisers, and cruising yachts in Europe. The existing Nordic Mast premises and all staff will be retained, and the operation will continue to be managed by Lars Netterstrøm, who will also assume a wider Group role.

Nordic Mast’s Lars Netterstrøm comments

“We are proud to have the opportunity to join with Southern Spars and to expand our business, ultimately bringing even better carbon masts and booms to our clients in Europe. The expansion into carbon rigging products will also be new for Nordic. It is very exciting for our team at Nordic Mast to become part of a truly global sparmaking and rigging group, and benefit from all the design and technological resources available within Southern Spars.”

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