Volvo Ocean Race Listens and Responds.

The Volvo Ocean Race has come in for some criticism in recent times, but the organisers have listened and have a plan for the future. While the armchair pundits and traditionalists rock in thier chairs and pine for the ‘Whitbread’, Volvo are showing that they are one of the most forward thinking and competent event organisers in the business.

On Sunday, in Rio de Janeiro, Knut Frostad, CEO of the Volvo Ocean Race, made the first of a series of presentations covering the current state of the race, and looking forward to the next edition, in 2011-12.

Vovlo have compiled a mid-race report showing this Volvo Ocean Race is on track to be the most widely-covered edition of the race in its 35-year history. This will surprise some print media, but thankfully a new generation of fan is interacting in new ways.

Frostad said:

“As modern communications evolve, so too does the Volvo Ocean Race. For this edition we have introduced many innovations: the on board media crew member, shooting and sending footage from the boat in HD, is at the core of everything we do; our mobile channel is a great success – in January the mobile site was hit every single second, for example; and I don’t think any of us anticipated the success of the Virtual Game, which will soon surpass 200 000 players, from nearly 200 countries around the world.”

Before the start of the current race, Volvo affirmed its commitment to the next Volvo Ocean Race which will start in 2011.

“As healthy as the race is now, we know that things are changing all the time, and the Volvo Ocean Race has to evolve if it is to remain at the pinnacle of the professional sailing world,”

“With our partners, the Boston Consulting Group, we’ve run extensive consultations over the past six months with teams, sailors, sponsors, and other stakeholders, to make improvements to the race. What we have come up with, I believe, are the right changes at the right time.”

In the current economic climate, increasing the value of the race is critical. Cost-cutting measures are being evaluated as are changes that will increase the return on investment to sponsors.

For the 2011-12 edition of the race, there will be a tighter restriction on the number of sails the teams are allowed to use. Sail inventory will be reduced by nearly 40 percent, and furling headsails will be introduced.

That in turn will make the boats easier to handle and so the crew on board has been reduced by one. It was also announced that each team will be required to have three crew members who are under 30 years of age when the race starts, compared to the current requirement for two.

“These changes announced today, and the ones still to come, have come to fruition following an extensive consultation process. And each one is measured against three criteria:

- to make and keep the race attractive for sailors,
- to reduce the cost for teams significantly,
- and to increase the return on investment for team sponsors.

If a proposed change doesn’t measure up against one of those yardsticks, we won’t make it.”

Finally, the proposed route for the next race was outlined. Last month The Sports Consultancy called for Expressions of Interest for stopover ports for the next race. To date, an impressive number of cities around the world have responded. Today, the full Port Procurement process was explained.

Although a route has yet to be finalised, the next edition of the race will start and finish in Europe, should have two or three less stopovers compared to the current race, and the total time for the race should be about one month shorter. It is expected that the full route for the 2011-12 race will be announced in the first quarter of 2010.

“We are hoping to build on the success of this edition of the race, which visited ports in Asia for the first time. The stopovers in India and China have added a new dimension to the sport side of the race, and have been important in terms of bringing sailing to a new audience. We want to build on this next time around.”

2011 Annoucement Good for Sponsorship Say Volvo Teams

Volvo Ocean Race organisers have announced that the next edition of the race, the 10th, will start in 2011.

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The decision has been welcomed by team principals who believe it gives certainty and continuity to the event and makes it easier for sponsors to commit.

“It’s essential to make this type of announcement now,” said Michael Woods, Team Russia’s CEO. “Certainty in any financial business environment is vital. For us to bring potential sponsors into the ports without knowing there is going to be a next race is a risk. Now we know there is another race it is worth the investment that we can bring potential sponsors to visit us later on.”

Jamie Boag, the CEO of Green Dragon, also believes the continuity will make the event more appealing to sponsors.

“One of the biggest problems that we have is the continuity, saying to somebody that ‘you have to put all these millions in and oh, by the way, if you hang around you can maybe do it in three years time’. Being able to go now and say they will be definitely something in three years time, makes life a lot easier.”

Tom Touber, the project manager of Team Delta Lloyd, was the director of shore operations at Team ABN AMRO in the last race hopes today’s news will help Delta Lloyd commit to the next race. He said: “This was a very, very positive announcement. This proves that Volvo is in very good cooperation with the syndicates.

Telefonica Blue skipper Bouwe Bekking hopes a new set-up will see extra assistance given in the search for sponsors. “We have been struggling always to find sponsors,” he said. “You have to get the right contacts so you need professional people in charge to find a sponsor for a sailing team.

“I’m not the right person to find a sponsor. I hope they can put the right people in place and then they can just hire a team manager or a complete team to race the boats.”

Sponsors might also be impressed with some of the numbers the event has already clocked up. The headline figure is the number of visitors to the race village to date from the opening of day of Friday 19th September which has reached 500,000.

The highest daily total was yesterday for the in-port race when 62,000 people went through the turnstiles.

Volvo Bring in Consultants to ‘Strategise’ Ocean Race

More on the increasing professionalism coming to yacht racing.

The Volvo Ocean Race has appointed The Boston Consulting Group (BCG) to assist in creating a strategy for the most challenging round-the-world race to become the world’s undisputed sailing event.

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Nice work if you can get it! On the one hand you might think that the Volvo Ocean Race has too much money if they can devote a chunk to pure strategy and consulting. On the other hand, it shows a recognition that the sport of sailing is changing – fast.

‘The Volvo Ocean Race has set itself highly ambitious goals for the future. Together with BCG, we will define the strategy and develop the right capabilities and skills to achieve these goals to make our race the world’s premier sailing event-in terms of both commercial and sportive measures,’ said Knut Frostad, CEO of Volvo Ocean Race.

BCG and Volvo Ocean Race will work together to chart a course to deliver the event’s spirit of adventure and human endeavour to the global public, to further develop the toughest offshore race, and to generate global opportunities for sponsors and business communities.

‘We are delighted to announce our partnership with the Volvo Ocean Race. It takes passion, knowledge, pioneering, and dedication by the teams and the individuals to be the best in the offshore racing world; these values are core to BCG and of great inspiration to all of us. This partnership brings together complementary resources and a shared commitment to excellence,’ said Rune Jacobsen, Partner and Managing Director in BCG’s Oslo office.