The business of yacht racing currently relies heavily on the backing of destination marketing and tourism authorities. The model is simple. Staging a high-profile yacht racing event like a stopover for the Volvo Ocean Race, provides a platform to promote a city and introduce tourists to a new destination. But for the model to work best, you need to align a host city or country with a participating team.

This model works, whether you are the Clipper Race or the America’s Cup World Series – tying the teams to the venues allows for a better return on investment for the host city.

The Volvo Ocean Race will be used by China to promote the city of Sanya as the ‘Hawaii of the Orient’, and to ensure the message is carried through the entire race, not just the Chinese stopover, a new team has been announced. Mike Sanderson, who has won the Volvo Ocean Race twice, will skipper the new Chinese entry to be called ‘Team Sanya’.

The announcement of Team Sanya brings the total number of entered boats to seven.

Mike Sanderson said at the launch of the new Chinese team in Beijing:

“This is a fantastic opportunity to race under the flag of such a great country and culture. We are building up a strong team and are ready to take on this exciting challenge. Our approach will be one of compelling intent, working fast and smart, representing this great country and team with ambition, dynamism and colourful energy.”

There is a sense that China, like Abu Dhabi, are willing to make large investments to use sailing as a mechanism to leap-frog other destinations in competition for tourism and investment. China will also compete for the next America’s Cup, with their team amongst those announced this week in San Francisco. Cities within China are also competing against each other for events, with Qingdao hosting the Olympics and the Extreme Sailing Series.

Li Quanhai, Vice Chairman of the China Yacht Association said:

“China is a sports power and has abundant marine resources. Our involvement in top sailing events, such as the Olympic Regatta and the Volvo Ocean Race, greatly improves the development of China’s water sports. The appearance of several high-level domestic games – such as the China Cup International Regatta and Hainan International Regatta – has drawn attention to the sport from the public. This will increase the popularity and development of water sports in China.”

Knut Frostad, CEO of the Volvo Ocean Race said:

“We are very excited about the news of Team Sanya and the return of Mike Sanderson, a veteran and true ambassador of the Volvo Ocean Race. This will be the seventh entry for the next edition and will not only bring a competitive yacht to our first class field but also will allow China to build on its already large sailing following. Team Sanya will allow the Chinese sailing fans to connect with the Volvo Ocean Race again and will be an amazing platform to engage with new audiences and attract potential tourists to Sanya and China itself.”

The Volvo Ocean Race is one event that can leave lasting infrastructure, both in terms of physical facilities, but also in terms of intellectual property and the skills and knowledge to stage and promote a major sporting event. Results from the last Volvo Ocean Race show that cities can use this legacy to bid for other events and deliver long term benefits.

The Deputy Mayor of Sanya, Wu Yanjun, agrees that the city will directly benefit from hosting the Volvo Ocean Race:

“Hosting world class events like the Volvo Ocean Race will directly improve our sailing and yachting related facilities. We can also use this opportunity to enhance our profile as a top tourist destination, showing our ability to host and manage world-class events. Team Sanya will be an ideal ambassador to promote Sanya and Hainan around the world.”

The city of Sanya will host the Volvo Ocean Race from the 4th to the 19th of February.

The chinese team will also benefit from a relationship with the finish of the race in Galway. Discover Ireland, promoting Irish tourism, will be a secondary sponsor of the Chinese team. Other sponsors include Helly Hansen as official clothing and apparel supplier.

More Volvo Ocean Race News…

It doesn’t matter what kind of sailing event you are running, or what platforms you are trying to distribute media on or communicate to fans with, capturing the action and getting it off the boat is something that all yacht racing promoters have to deal with.

It’s pretty easy if you are the America’s Cup – you could almost use 3G to get media off boats sailing around San Francisco Bay, but the Volvo Ocean Race has a racecourse that is, as the strapline says. extreme – and that means being on the edge of the communicable world.

There are technologies however that do enable high speed, HD quality communication from almost any point on the earth. The Volvo Ocean Race has once again teamed up with Inmarsat to provide essential voice and data connectivity for the next edition of the ocean racing event. Inmarsat FleetBroadband will be used to deliver broadcast quality high-definition television (HDTV) and rich multimedia content from the competing boats to the world’s media. Inmarsat has increased its involvement in the next edition of the race and is now a Race Partner.

Knut Frostad, CEO Volvo Ocean Race said:

“I am very pleased to announce this continued and enhanced partnership with Inmarsat. FleetBroadband has proved it can deliver a flawless performance in tough conditions and that is absolutely essential for us. We need to be able to get reliable and high quality material off the boats and deliver it to the world with immediacy. You could say that the DNA of the Volvo Ocean Race is really based around moving images. And to be able to transmit these images from the boats is core to our communication and story building around the race. In many ways you could say that the Inmarsat’s FleetBroadBand has revolutionised the sport of offshore sailing.

And by enabling us to be so connected to the boats, we can monitor them 24 hours a day from our Control Room in Alicante. This is crucial for our safety procedures and the onboard safety equipment is a vital tool for the crew in emergency situations.”

Each Volvo Open 70 will be equipped with a SAILOR FleetBroadband 500, providing voice and high-speed data communications. Also onboard is a compact SAILOR FleetBroadband 150 for crew voice calling and IP data, plus two SAILOR Mini-C systems for constant positioning data and global safety communications. For the first time and after extensive evaluation, Inmarsat’s new global satellite phone, the ISATPHONE Pro, will be included in the safety kit of all the race yachts.

Andrew Sukawaty, Chairman and CEO, Inmarsat said:

“FleetBroadband gave a flawless performance during the last Volvo Ocean Race in 2008 – 09 and will continue to take media coverage of the race into a whole new era. Faster transmission speeds deliver better quality broadcasts bringing all the action onboard into people’s homes around the world. It is undeniably the world’s premier global race and one of the most demanding team sporting events in the world and we are delighted with the global endorsement of ISATPHONE Pro, with its inclusion in the yachts’ safety equipment.”

You could just mount cameras to different parts of the boats and have ‘TV execs’ pick the best bits, but the Volvo Ocean Race realises that offshore sailing is as much about the human element than the boat, perhaps more so. The interactions of team members at the extremes, the highs and lows can be captured by someone embedded in the action, not just watching from a studio. Therefore the race will once again include Media Crew Members and an (MCM) Award for the best material.

This award will also be sponsored by Inmarsat. In addition, on each leg, an MCM will win a €1000 cash prize for outstanding excellence in communicating across all media from their boat, as judged by a specialist panel. When the race concludes in Galway, Ireland, in July 2012, a €10,000 prize will be awarded to the MCM judged to have made the best overall contribution to race coverage.

Knut Frostad firmly believes the MCM is as much a key player as the helmsman, tactician and the crew.

“No story, no sponsorship, no race. It’s as simple as that.”

More Volvo Ocean Race Business News

There are some sectors that are quite competitive when it comes to sailing sponsorship.

Automotive brands like Volvo, Audi, BMW and Abarth all back different parts of the sport. Financial services is predicted by some to be set to make a comeback, and the other market that is comfortable with sponsorship of yacht racing is watches, or as the marketing folk at the luxury end of the market like to call them, timepieces.

As the Volvo Ocean Race counts down to its next edition, which has a more consumer focussed set of sponsors than before, watch company, IWC Schaffhausen, has been announced as race sponsor and Official Timekeeper.

Knut Frostad, CEO of the Volvo Ocean Race said

“It is my pleasure to welcome IWC Schaffhausen as the Official Timekeeper of the Volvo Ocean Race 2011-12. IWC Schaffhausen will also sponsor the prestigious 24-Hour record competition in the race.

With its pioneering and innovative attitude, the celebrated watch brand IWC Schaffhausen is a perfect match for the Volvo Ocean Race.”

Timing partners are an integral part of any sporting event, but as well as the obvious connotations, the Swiss watch manufacturer is also looking to demonstrate engineering, technology and quality expertise.

“We are looking forward to an exciting and successful Volvo Ocean Race 2011-12”

IWC Schaffhausen will present the 24-hour record prize per race leg, which will be awarded during the prize-giving ceremony at each Host Port. They will also award a special prize for the fastest team over 24-hours in the Volvo Ocean Race 2011-12. This prize will be presented at the end of the race in Galway, July 2012. The fastest crewmembers will all be awarded an exclusive IWC timepiece.

More Volvo Ocean Race Sponsorship News.

World Yacht Racing Forum Panel Discussion.

Chaired by Richard Simmonds of Sunset+Vine APP, this session at the WYRF 2010 featured:

• Knut Frostad, CEO, Volvo Ocean Race
• Eddie Owen, CEO, Royal Offshore Racing Club
• Franck David, Director, Multi-One Design Circuit
• Jim O’Toole, CEO, World Match Racing Tour
• Luc Talbourdet, President, IMOCA

Things are changing in sailing. The world governing body is beginning to increase its role in the management of premier sailing events. It’s a bit of a shame that Jerome Pels from ISAF was not on this panel. He was attending the event (and presented as part of the Olympic session) and discussions we had with him about the management of the ‘Grand Prix’ events were encouraging. ISAF is not doing a great job of promoting their initiatives, but we’ll come back to that later.

It’s important to note that not all premier sailing events are equal. The panel represented a wide range of rights-holders and promoters who have different audiences and different challenges. While the Volvo Ocean Race and World Match Racing Tour are established events with ISAF special event status, the Multi-One Design circuit is a concept – ‘vapourware’ that is vying for the same audience and sponsorship budgets as IMOCA.

For Knut Frostad, the challenge for the Volvo Ocean Race is to grow mainstream media. The goal for the race is to increase coverage on such channels by 200%. Part of the solution is to look at the way professionals like DORNA do it – ongoing business is based on predictability and long term (8 years +) deals are one way to do that.

The shape of the commercial team is also important to long term success. In the past, sailors like Dennis Connor had to raise sponsorship because if they didn’t they wouldn’t go sailing. The generation behind them were paid by those commercially savvy individuals and therefore never developed the skills to go and raise money.

While there are now 6 MBA programmes in Europe that focus on sport, these new professionals are not currently working in sailing. The Volvo Ocean Race are supporting teams to help raise sponsorship because ‘sailors’ can’t do it on their own.

Luc Talbourdet, President, IMOCA also recognises that for the organisation to be successful in the long term, it needs to raise its profile outside of France. The Barcelona World Race has been part of that strategy – increasing the audience and base of sailors in Spain. Extra races also help to spread the investment in an Open 60 across more media opportunities and increases ROI.

For Jim O’Toole, CEO of the World Match Racing Tour, the raw materials are there. The personalities are there. The sailors are media savvy and those coming up through the ranks are learning as they go. He cites Australian skipper Torvar Mirsky as being the CEO of a multinational corporation. Mirsky has to manage employees, logistics, prizemoney in multiple currencies, tax in multiple markets, media appearances, sponsorship and he has to make sure that the business of the Mirsky Racing Team (MRT) makes more than it spends.

O’Toole and Frostad agree that if sailing is to really make it in the mainstream, then the focus needs to be more on the talent and less on the boats. The stories are the real content.

For Eddie Owen, CEO, Royal Offshore Racing Club, the challenges are different. Sponsorship is not something that they ‘need’ – though he admits it would be nice. The Fastnet Race is one that fits into the category mentioned by Mark Turner, where sailors don’t have any need to communicate with the media. The audience is the sailors. The challenge for RORC is grass-roots participation.

The lack of joining up of the dots seems to be apparent here. The Volvo Ocean Race should be inspiring people to go sailing, and the Fastnet Race should be positioned as a rung along that ladder.

ISAF has started to work together for the ‘Grand Prix’ operators. Meetings have been started around calendar clashes, but Frostad and O’Toole admit that the top players don’t meet often enough.

More World Yacht Racing Forum insight.

8 Business Of Yacht Raching Questions. Part 3.3 – Knut Frostad

The next in our series, questioning the leaders of the sport of sailing about how the business of yacht racing works and how it could change to compete against other professional games. CEO of the Volvo Ocean Race, Knut Frostad has some long term goals for the race and he also talks about who he sees as competition and what innovations have changed the game.

This interview was conducted at the 2010 World Yacht Racing Forum. Coming soon – Richard Worth from the America’s Cup Event Authority answers the 8 business of yacht racing questions. The responses are a real eye-opener!

8 Business of Yacht Racing Questions. Part 3.2 – Knut Frostad

Next in our series of interviews with leaders in the sport of professional sailing. Knut Frostad; CEO of the Volvo Ocean Race talks more about the customers of the race and explains how a team business model works.

Much of the discussion at the 2010 World Yacht Racing Forum was about sustainability and the goal of the very top operators is to make owning a sailing team a profitable business. This is a change from the purely amateur or privately backed model and is also different from the idea that a sailing team is just a marketing expense. Such a concept requires continuity over a long period of time and also requires the property to become big enough to command revenues from television.

This is part 3.2 of a series where we asked the rights holders of several top level sailing events to answer 8 questions.

• Part 1 – Mark Turner; Extreme Sailing Series
• Part 2 – Jim O’Toole; World Match Racing Tour
• Part 3.1 – Knut Frostad; Volvo Ocean Race

Next in our series of interviews with leaders of the professional yacht racing industry is CEO of the Volvo Ocean Race – Knut Frostad. We posed the same 8 questions about business models and targeting that we asked Mark Turner and Jim O’Toole.

This is part 1 of 3 videos. The other two will be published later this week. Then next week we will publish Richard Worth’s answers to the same questions around the business of the America’s Cup.

These interviews were conducted at the World Yacht Racing Forum in Estoril, Portugal. We’re currently transcribing our notes from the various sessions and will bring the insights over the next few weeks – some reading for the days between Christmas and New Year perhaps.

Many of the who’s who of the yacht racing and sailing industry have been in Estoril this week for the World Yacht Racing forum. The topics ranged from the America’s Cup to the environmental credentials of yacht racing.

The Extreme Sailing Series kicked it off on Monday night with an announcement of a new 9 event global tour and two days of speeches, debate and networking followed.

Today, some are travelling back to their offices, getting ready for Christmas and others are playing golf in Portugal. We’ve got pages and pages of notes and insights from the World Yacht Racing Forum and we will  be writing them up over the coming days. We also have some very interesting video interviews with some of the sport’s leaders.

On the last day of the forum,  we asked the same 8 questions to Mark Turner of the Extreme Sailing Series, Jim O’toole of the World Match Racing Tour, Knut Frostad from the Volvo Ocean Race and Richard Worth from the America’s Cup Event Authority. We’re sure that our readers will be interested in the answers.

Check out the #WYRF twitter posts at our official World Yacht Racing Forum page.

It’s one thing to run a media infrastructure for a stadium based game, or a sailing event that happens within Wifi range of the shore. It’s quite another to deliver almost real-time, high definition coverage on multiple devices from the middle of the ocean. The Volvo Ocean Race has announced that the task of delivering the media goals for the next edition of the race will be given to Volvo IT who will be  the official IT supplier. Volvo IT will provide the IT platform, ensuring effective communications at each of the 10 cities, which the race will visit during the course of the event.

The company has provided similar services to the two previous Volvo Ocean Races and developed an understanding of what is required and capabilities to deploy a world-class IT infrastructure that can keep pace with the extreme nature of the Volvo Ocean Race.  With the need to communicate the race to stakeholders and fans in more than180 countries, the Volvo Ocean Race requires a supplier who has the ability to deliver at all times.

Volvo Ocean Race CEO, Knut Frostad said:

“Our IT solution requires a sophisticated infrastructure to run this world-class event. We are confident that Volvo IT has the proven ability to deliver at the highest level and we look forward to working with them on the upcoming race.”

Volvo IT, CEO Magnus Carlander added:

“We are proud, once again, to have the opportunity to deliver to the Volvo Ocean Race. The Volvo Ocean Race is one of the world’s most extreme, global sporting events and this is an exciting way for Volvo IT to showcase our ability to deliver IT solutions under extreme conditions and to leverage the passion and spirit of our committed team of employees around the globe.”

Volvo IT will design a platform that ensures network access and availability for the Volvo Ocean Race staff, media visiting the race, and participating teams. A key aspect will include running the media centres from an IT perspective at each stopover, enabling the transmission of gigabytes of data and providing hands-on, IT support. Volvo IT will also provide hardware and support for the Volvo Ocean Race headquarters in Alicante, Spain.

More Volvo Ocean Race News…

Logistics is one partnership that you need to get right for any sport, especially an event that has multiple stopovers in multiple countries and continents. The Volvo Ocean Race has announced that DHL will be the  Official Logistics Partner for the upcoming yacht race which starts from Alicante, Spain.

It’s a good fit for DHL, who can show that they are able to manage complicated logistical projects and appeal to a wide audience of Volvo Ocean Race partners and those of the competing teams.

DHL will provide a complete logistics solution for the race encompassing air, sea and land freight movements. The company also sponsors Formula 1 and the Rugby World Cup.

With its expertise in such high-level events, DHL proves it is a global partner capable of delivering against extremely tight timelines and to disparate locations around the world. The Volvo Ocean Race demands a partner who can operate on a large and complex scale, and one which is able to deal with the intricacies of large sporting event logistics, where there are no second chances.

Volvo Ocean Race CEO, Knut Frostsad said:

“We are extremely pleased to announce DHL as our Official Logistics Partner. An event such as the Volvo Ocean Race requires its Logistics Partner to provide a world class service, and we look forward to working with DHL on what truly is a unique sporting and logistical challenge.”

Thomas George, CEO DHL Freight said:

“We look forward to supporting one of the most demanding international sporting events with our know-how in transport and logistics. It’s a perfect fit. Ocean racing requires core characteristics such as teamwork, passion, speed, technology and a can-do-spirit. These values also boost our performance at DHL.”

DHL will work with the race teams and partners to deliver key services including port-to-port transport of cargo and sailing equipment by air, sea and land. DHL will be responsible for the complete logistics management from the pick-up of cargo at any given venue to on-time delivery of the containers at the next race village. In addition to air, ocean and road transport services, DHL will provide full tracking and tracing of the cargo in transit as well as customs clearance and warehousing services.

More Volvo Ocean Race Sponsorship News…