Vodafone has taken naming sponsorship of the ORMA trimaran previously Team G3, to launch ‘TeamVodafone Sailing’ with the boat’s major rebranding about to start. The associations of speed are important, but there is also the old fashioned billboard factor that will give the brand presence in one of the most well known racing harbours in the world.

Vodafone’s Director of Sales Grant Hopkins says:

“We have invested heavily in our Extended 3G network to cover 97% of where kiwis live, work and play – and a whole lot of kiwis play on the water. Whether you want to send a PXT of your award-winning snapper to a mate, keep the emails at bay or in the case of TeamVodafone check the weather to be in the best position for the wind, this partnership is about showing boaties you can still use all of our great data services at fast speeds on the water.”

Moored just 100 metres from the Vodafone HQ at the Viaduct in Auckland harbour, TeamVodafone is the fastest mobile billboard in town. As well as racing in Auckland, TeamVodafone intends to compete in numerous regattas and races in Oceania – Coastal Classic, Sydney- Hobart, Auckland – Fiji to name a few…and will challenge a few records getting there and back. Watch out for it overtaking the Waiheke ferry in the Auckland harbour.

In August next year TeamVodafone will also enter the ‘Round Australia Race’ – the last time it was raced it was won was by kiwi’s Sir Peter Blake and Mike Quilter in Steinlager 1, back in 1988.

TeamVodafone Sailing is owned and skippered by Simon Hull with an experienced professional crew. Simon has owned and campaigned a succession of race boats, the most recent the Transpac 52, V5 – recent wins include the Coastal Classic yacht race in 2007 and 2008, and the Bay of Islands Race Week in 2009.

Simon commented

“It is fantastic to have a brand as strong as Vodafone to back the team. Bringing one of the fastest sailing boats on the planet all the way down here from France has been a dream of mine for some time. It takes sailing here to a new level, and Vodafone’ support enables us to go for the records that we know she is capable of.

Hopkins ends:

Of course this partnership is not just about coverage, let’s face it this boat is fast, it’s innovative and it will push the boundaries to break records – you can’t get more Vodafone than that.

More New Zealand Sailing news.

Another one of yacht racing’s worst kept secrets was officially announced yesterday. The battle for the hearts, minds and soles of yacht racing fans will be contested by Camper, the Spanish-based international footwear manufacturer. The brand will sponsor an entry in the Volvo Ocean Race in 2011-12. The campaign will be run by Emirates Team New Zealand. The announcement clarified some rumours, but started some new ones with Emirates Team NZ team boss Grant Dalton suggesting that given the lack of conflict with the America’s Cup, Alinghi may also enter the race.

Camper is the second shoe brand to announce an entry in the race, with global sports giant PUMA also announcing its plans to compete. Camper is a family-owned company which started making shoes on the Spanish island of Majorca in 1877. Today Camper operates directly 320 stores and ‘shop-in-shop’ locations in 42 countries and distributes its products through 2800 independent retailers. The sponsorship is believed to be in the region of 25 Million Euros.

In announcing the Volvo Ocean Race project, Camper said:

‘Competing in the Volvo Ocean Race 2011–12 provides Camper with the motivation to continue improving the quality of its products and its presence around the world. The history and the authenticity of the race, the human adventure, the effort, the desire to improve and the teamwork fully fit the Camper values. The Mediterranean as a territory and as a culture has always been at the centre of the Camper image. From Alicante this round-the-world race will be, without a doubt, a strong source of inspiration for the future of a brand that walks with imagination.

For us it is a privilege to take our first steps in the Volvo Ocean Race together with Emirates Team New Zealand, undoubtedly one of the most prestigious professional sailing teams in the world. Despite New Zealand being in the antipodes of Majorca, we feel very close to them sharing their way of thinking and so Emirates Team New Zealand makes us feel confident when undertaking this project.’

The Spanish sponsorship and identity will be treated very favourably under Spanish tax law, believed to return a 2:1 credit on every Euro invested in a project of this type.

The entrance of the New Zealand team was made possible through the expectation that the next America’s Cup will not take place until 2013 or 2014. The announcement is also another example of the growth of sailing ‘super-teams’; franchises that compete and leverage their sponsors across multiple platforms. Team New Zealand will not give up on the America’s Cup, rather it will split its activities across different disciplines.

Emirates Team New Zealand managing director Grant Dalton says:

‘The Volvo project instantly energises our team, allows our designers and engineers to get going and in Camper we have found a great partner. They are a family company with family values and a culture that fits very well with Emirates Team New Zealand and our family of sponsors. The team has the capacity to integrate a Volvo Ocean Race campaign to sit alongside its commitments to the Louis Vuitton Trophy regattas, the Audi MedCup 2010 and the next America’s Cup.

‘With Louis Vuitton, the team started the Louis Vuitton Trophy, Dean Barker and the team campaigned successfully on the Audi MedCup TP52 circuit last year and now we have a Volvo Ocean Race campaign to organise from scratch.’

Long time supporter of the team, Emirates Airlines will also benefit from the deal with the race scheduled to make a stopover in Abu-Dhabi. Emirates’ Divisional Senior Vice President, Corporate Communication, Boutros Boutros, said:

‘We are very pleased to continue our support of Emirates Team New Zealand through this venture. It will add a further dimension to the global reach of our sponsorship of the team, which has already been very successful for Emirates through the America’s Cup, the Louis Vuitton Trophy and the Audi MedCup. With this latest diversification, there are many benefits for the team, for New Zealand, and for Emirates, as well of course for Camper.

‘It will be fantastic to see the team competing in the United Arab Emirates, the home country of Emirates, when the Volvo Ocean Race comes to the capital city of Abu Dhabi. It will be a good opportunity to showcase what the UAE can offer in terms of five-star infrastructure, tourism and business attractions. ‘We are sure that this campaign will be run by Emirates Team New Zealand in the same thorough and competitive manner as all of its previous efforts, and we are only too happy to be associated with an initiative that meets the same professional standards that we continually strive to maintain as an airline.’

Not only will the Volvo Ocean Race start in Spain, the home of Camper and pass through home of Emirates Airlines, the race will also call in at Auckland. The arrival of Team New Zealand into the harbour will be an eagerly anticipated event of the race. CEO of the Volvo Ocean Race,  Knut Frostad said:

‘We are delighted to welcome Grant Dalton and Emirates Team New Zealand to the Volvo Ocean Race, which gives us our first proper New Zealand entry for many years. Dalton, a former winner of this event, brings with him not only a wealth of experience, but a very charismatic and highly competitive team of sailors. The people of Auckland will surely be very proud to watch the progress of Emirates Team New Zealand as it takes on some of the world’s best. I would also like to welcome Camper to the Volvo Ocean Race family. We look forward to working with their strong international brand, elevating the profile of their new team and our race.’

The Emirates Team New Zealand design team, headed by principal designer Marcelino Botin, will design the yacht. It will be built by Cookson Yachts, Auckland, and launched in the first quarter of 2011 before been sea-trialled and shipped to the Atlantic coast of Spain. The yacht will be called Camper and will carry the burgees of the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron and the Real Club Náutico de Palma.

Video of Grant Dalton talking on NZ television…

Photo Credit – Emirates Team New Zealand / Photo Chris Cameron ETNZ ©

It was to become the formula for the Louis Vuitton Trophy. In 2010, the LVT will replace the vacuum left by the America’s Cup shambles, but it remains to be seen what will happen to it if any certainty is restored as a result of the Deed of Gift match in Valencia next week.

Even though the Louis Vuitton Paciffic Series was relatively hastily arranged, it was enough of a success to lead to the formation of the World Sailing Teams Association (WSTA) who, along with the city of Auckland will organise the regatta from 9-21 March. The Louis Vuitton Trophy will be part of a larger aquatic festival, staged from the same venue and at the same time as the Auckland International Boatshow (10-14 March) in Auckland’s Downtown Viaduct Basin.

The WSTA member teams entered for the Louis Vuitton Trophy Auckland regatta are from seven countries. Unlike last year, the host Emirates Team New Zealand, skippered by Dean Barker, will not get an automatic pass to the regatta finals, but will have to earn the right to be there by passing through the round robin and semi final stages with a winning record. The seven other teams hoping to also make it to the finals and ultimately prevail are:

• Aleph (France, skipper Bertrand Pacé)
• All4One (France/Germany, skipper Jochen Schumann)
• Artemis (Sweden, skipper Paul Cayard)
• Azzurra (Italy, skipper Francesco Bruni)
• Mascalzone Latino Audi (Italy)
• Synergy (Russia, skipper Karol Jablonski)
• TEAMORIGIN (Great Britain, skipper Ben Ainslie)

The press release for the Auckland event also includes media value numbers for the event held in Nice in November last year. It is an interesting comparison to the numbers issued by the Extreme Sailing Series Europe (ESSE) last week.

OC Events had their entire series of six events valued at €5.9 Million by an independent agency. According to the WSTA, the single Nice regatta had a provisional media value  of over €9 Million. The WSTA number relates to 1200 articles (versus 894 for ESSE) and 354 hours of TV (versus 535 for ESSE).

The two organisations obviously use very different mechanisms to value their media return. Both can be rationalised, but such discrepancies make it hard for outsiders to make informed judgements about investments in the sport.

More information about the Auckland round of the Louis Vuitton Trophy here…

Yesterday, the enigmatic World Sailing Teams Association (WSTA) and Louis Vuitton announced four new events to take the series through until January 2011. The concept will build on the successful recent event in Nice; designed to transform a port venue, regardless of its previous sailing culture, into the capital of professional yacht racing for two weeks, along with all the associated activities and excitement, on and off the water.

The calendar visits the new growth markets for sailing, which are also large and growing markets for Louis Vuitton.

• Louis Vuitton Trophy Auckland: 9 – 21 March 2010
• Louis Vuitton Trophy La Maddalena, Sardinia: 22 May – 6 June 2010
• Louis Vuitton Trophy Middle East: 13 – 28 November 2010
• Louis Vuitton Trophy Hong Kong: 9 – 24 January 2011

In a statement, newly-elected WSTA board Chairman Paul Cayard commented:

“The Louis Vuitton Trophy is gaining momentum following the great regattas held in Auckland and Nice in 2009 and I really believe 2010 is going to be an even better year for our teams, their crews and supporters.”

Jochen Schümann, ALL4ONE’s Sports Director and Skipper:

“Great to have a reliable schedule for Louis Vuitton Trophy events, after the success that was met in Nice Côte d’Azur in November 2009. ALL4ONE is already planning another overall crew training for February in Valencia on ACC boat, in order to prepare an upcoming busy season as one platform for four challenges with the Louis Vuitton Trophy events, the TP52 MedCup, the RC44 circuit and the World Match Racing Tour.

Emirates Team New Zealand managing director Grant Dalton said the team welcomed Louis Vuitton’s return to Auckland:

“Last February we tested the concept. Its success far exceeded everyone’s expectations.” The Louis Vuitton Trophy has emerged from that experiment as a viable, top-level regatta. It’s good for the teams, it’s good for the sport, it’s good for host cities and we’ve given the fans something to watch.”

The Middle East venue has been embargoed until January 15th, 2010.

Selling a visitor experience is different to running events where the competitors are the only stakeholders considered.

Auckland is a city where sailing is as recognised as other sports. The city has invested heavily in developing the waterfront which is home to the country’s America’s Cup team. There is also a sense that relevant government agencies, investors and the sport all work together to create events that deliver the most return for all stakeholders.

Against this background, Auckland Mayor John Banks has announced the Auckland Festival of Sail – three major international regattas to be held on the Waitemata Harbour in March 2010. Mr Banks says:

“Not only is this great news for Aucklanders with another festival added to the summer events calendar, it’s also great news for businesses, especially those in the hospitality, tourism and marine sectors. Major events are important economic drivers especially during the tough times that we are currently experiencing. Securing this festival in Auckland is another step on our road to establishing the city as a desirable international events destination and we look forward to welcoming the world’s best sailors to our shores next year.”

The managing director of Emirates Team New Zealand Grant Dalton said the three regattas, combined with the Auckland International Boat Show, will provide three weeks of top-level action right in the city.

“When the idea of the Auckland Festival of Sail was first raised, many groups came together to really put on a show for Auckland and New Zealand. We have worked closely with Auckland City agencies, the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron, Louis Vuitton, the World Sailing Teams Association and many other organisations and individuals to make it happen.

Scott Colebrook, commodore of the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron, says the Squadron is proud to be undertaking an integral role in the Auckland Festival of Sail.

“As the organizing authority of these three significant events, running back to back, we will be placing huge demands on our volunteer race and boat management personnel and resources. With assistance from Bucklands Beach Yacht Club we look forward to our contribution to this marvellous combination of high profile regattas featuring the world’s best yachtsmen and teams that will showcase our City of Sails to an international audience.”

We’ll be writing up the discussion around venues from the WYRF in the next couple of days.

Emirates Team NZ have launched their new TP52 and are trialling it around the harbour in Auckland, the same waters that recently hosted the Louis Vuitton Pacific Series. To the Kiwis, an America’s Cup team is still largely a national team – not just a group of multi-national mercenary guns-for-hire. Therefore news about the team’s activity warrants space on news television, keeping sailing top of mind in the mass market.

Here’s the report from TV NZ…

The new TP52, which will compete in the Audi Med Cup in 2009 is training against newly launched TP52 Artemis.

Emirates Team New Zealand was designed by the ETNZ design team, while Artemis is from the Judel/Vrolijk board. The hulls for both were built by Cookson Boats, with sails by North Sails NZ and spars by Southern Spars.

Lynn writes:

Within hours of the prize giving for the Louis Vuitton Pacific Series, a 120-page coffee table book with a foreword by regatta organizer, Bruno Troublé, will be available for distribution.

With just the right balance of prose from sailing journalist, Lynn Fitzpatrick, and eye-popping photos from photographer, Jürg Kaufmann, the book is the perfect keepsake for everyone attending this historic match racing event in Auckland, NZ. For those who were not present for five days of practice and 16 days of exciting match racing between world renown skippers, helmsmen, tacticians and crew from 10 teams representing 9 countries, this photo journal allows you to live vicariously.

Auckland loaded up its summer schedule with the Louis Vuitton Pacific Series, a regatta extending over three weekends, and numerous other events. Everything from the largest single day regatta on the planet, to an ISDF world championship, to a superyacht regatta, to Auckland’s Anniversary Day added to the frenetic activities in Auckland’s Viaduct Basin. Legendary sailors, VIP’s and fans mixed and mingled at what has been dubbed “The Friendly Games”.

Order your book(s) online at www.RegattaBook.com

About the Collaborators

Lynn Fitzpatrick – American sailing journalist, Lynn has been a competitive sailor for decades. She makes it a point to know the sailors, the boats and the venue at every regatta she attends and watches for shifts in the lead just as astutely as competitors track lifts and headers. Wherever she goes, she tries to raise the profile of sailing and sailors and broaden others’ awareness of our rising stars and sailing as a pastime, sport and catalyst for waterfront development.

Lynn’s articles appear in lifestyle and travel publications as frequently as they do in sailing and yachting journals. Lynn has competed in and covered national, hemispheric, world championship and Olympic regattas for years.
Lynn works for individuals, corporations, classes, regatta organizers, teams and developers.

www.worldregattas.com

Jürg Kaufmann – Swiss photographer Jürg Kaufman has been photographing seascapes and sailing events for over a decade. Jürg travels the world as an International Match Racing Umpire and International Judge. With a keen eye toward anticipating intense situations developing on the racecourse, Jürg knows when to have his camera loaded and ready to record the maneuvers and sequences that tell it all.

From rigging up at the Olympic Sailing Regatta to rounding a mark at the Louis Vuitton Pacific Series, Jürg’s images follow landside and on the water activities and capture the essence of competitive sailing.

Jürg works for sailing teams, race organizers and commercial and private sponsors.
www.go4image.com

It wasn’t just fans at the track that were thought about. ALMS offered live web radio streaming, live timing and scoring worldwide and were the first American motorsport series to offer real-time SMS text message updates. The theory behind the text messages was that some fans couldn’t be in front of their tv or computer for the whole 12 hours of an endurance race, so if they were in the hardware store or shopping for groceries, they could still stay in touch.

Contrast this mentality with events in Auckland over the last couple of days where the Louis Vuitton Pacific Series has been designed to showcase America’s Cup style sailing, a luxury goods manufacturer and the country of New Zealand. Alinghi, defender of the America’s Cup, took a ‘competitive’ decision not to compete against hosts Emirates Team New Zealand.

Alinghi’s official statement read:

With a competitive elimination round coming up in the next few days Alinghi had everything to lose and nothing to gain in racing the home team Emirates Team New Zealand.

Alinghi’s US skipper Ed Baird was left to defend the decision saying:

‘We are loving this regatta, the racing has been great and the summer conditions have been fantastic . . . Normally we would jump at the chance to sail against Team New Zealand as we have so many times in the past, so we are sorry to have to make this strategic choice.’

Alinghi’s behaviour, though technically legal, shows that sailing has a lot to learn about being a spectator sport. It is unthinkable that a professional sports team like Manchester United or The New York Yankees would refuse to play a game against a rival based on the argument that ‘they had nothing to gain.’ This is partly because they play in stadiums, where fans buy tickets to watch the game – fans are quantifiable, they are promised a show and promoters have a duty to provide the advertised entertainment. These professional teams also have a duty to sponsors and television schedules. What do they have to gain by playing a dead rubber? more exposure, more glory, more money.

We asked Alinghi if they had any comment to make to fans who might have travelled to New Zealand to watch racing, or other fans who follow the racing around the world? We asked if fans were considered when making the decision not to race?

The response rehashed the statement of the day before.

Sailing is a big deal in Auckland, so naturally there was a sense that Alinghi was at the very least being unsportsmanlike. Bob Fisher wrote:

This was hardly a gentlemanly action by the holders of the America’s Cup to deny the Kiwis the opportunity to race against them for the first time since they met in July 2007. It had been hailed as the Match of the Day by the local press and broadcasters and one that the spectators were ready to appreciate.

After all there were Auckland citizens who through financial reasons were denied the opportunity to cheer their team in Valencia and who were gathering on North Head for this match. Their disappointment was immense and calls were made to those close to the event complaining about the behaviour of the Swiss team, whose skipper would have known the full effect of the decision not to race.

Emirates Team New Zealand Skipper Dean Barker went further:

I was disgusted. The racing has been close, competitors are enjoying themselves and the public are being treated to some great sailing. Why would they introduce a niggle into a very successful regatta? It’s all about the spirit of the event. It’s all about doing what right for yachting. Their action was insulting and disrespectful to our team and to the New Zealand people. We were really wanted to race them today, the first time since July 2007. We don’t know what their agenda is. If they were taking a swipe at us they missed the target and whacked the thousands of New Zealand yachting fans who are following the action in the Louis Vuitton Pacific Series and wanted to see two great teams go head to head. It inexplicable when the team pulls a stunt like this. It’s just bad sportsmanship.”

It’s hard to see how Alinghi’s actions cannot be seen as bringing the sport of sailing into disrepute. In a time when people are trying to raise sponsorship and awareness of yacht racing, actions like this give potential supporters an excuse not to participate. If one of the most visible teams can decide not to compete, how can we convince sponsors, media and fans that they should comit time and money to watching?

Even the most self-centered sports realise that without fans they will die. Formula One teams have traditionally not thought about grass-roots fans. I have spoken to commercial directors of F1 teams who have said “spending money on developing merchandise and websites doesn’t make the car go any faster”. But as racing became procession like, with limited if any overtaking, fans started to stop watching. Without viewers, sponsor returns fell and the teams suddenly realised that the fans were important. In recent years, F1 took the unprecedented action of surveying fans to ask what they would change about the sport. F1 in 2009 will be different – in no small part due to the fact that the sport listened to the fans.

In recent years, professsional sailing has relied on the support and sponsorship of destinations using the sport to promote tourism. Yesterday on tis site, google ads were appearing for spectator cruises tied to Auckland travel packages. Perhaps the organisers of the Louis Vuitton Pacific Series thought that no team would ever take the action Alinghi did, that it was just not the done thing. If yacht racing wants to continue to receive money from cities and national tourist boards, organisers need to punish teams that make decisions that affect the advertised entertainment.

The American Le Mans Series now use the slogan ‘World Class’. It’s too late for the Louis Vuitton Pacific Series, but perhaps savvy sailing promoters should adopt the mantra ‘For the Fans’.

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• Pataugas K-Challenge beat China team
• Emirates Team New Zealand beat Damiani Italia Challenge
• Team Origin beat Luna Rossa
• Alinghi beat Greek Challenge (who were awarded a score of -1 following a collision)

http://www.louisvuitton-pacificseries.com/

“We are delighted at the overwhelming response to our concept of a friendly series for top level international teams,” said Yves Carcelle, Chairman of Louis Vuitton. “We started with the hope that six teams would race and to attract ten top entries at such short notice is a great achievement. This will be the most outstanding gathering of international sailing teams since the Louis Vuitton Cup in Auckland in 2003.”

Crews will take turns in racing one-on-one in New Zealand’s NZL 92 and NZL 84 and BMW Oracle Racing’s USA 87 and USA 98. The two American boats were offloaded from their transport ship just before Christmas and a team of 30 Kiwi and American shore crew members worked throughout the holiday period to prepare the boats for racing. The work included changes to the rigs and sail plans to make each pair of boats as equal as possible. There will be six races each day on the Waitemata off North Head, readily visible to spectators ashore and afloat. There will be a daily draw to decide which yacht competing teams will sail that day. Renowned international race officer Peter “Luigi” Reggio will fly to Auckland to head the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron’s race committee.

The Teams are 

• Emirates Team NZ (New Zealand).  Dean Barker will skipper and take the helm for the home team.
• Luna Rossa (Italy) Semi-finalist in Valencia, will have Peter Holmberg as its skipper and helmsman.
• BMW Oracle Racing (USA). Hometown boy Russell Coutts will skipper. 
• K-Challenge (France). Sébastien Col coming off a great 2008 in the World Match Racing Tour will helm the boat. 
• TEAMORIGIN (UK). Two 2008 Gold Medalists on board. Ben Ainslie as Skipper and Iain Percy as tactician.
• China Team (China). Two-time World Match Racing Tour champion Ian Williams has signed on as skipper. 
• Team Shosholoza (RSA). Italy’s Paolo Cian, who until recently was third in the ISAF Match Racing world rankings, is skipper and helmsman.
• Damiani Italia (Italy). Is a new team from Circolo Canottieri Aniene and Club Canottieri Roggero di Lauria. 
• Greek Challenge (Greece), Started by Sotiris Buseas.
• Alinghi (Switzerland). Auckland’s Brad Butterworth is skipper and tactician for Alinghi. American Ed Baird will again take the helm for the Swiss.

CNEV are notably absent from the competition.