In December 2010, the Extreme Sailing Series announced that it would expand to become a global tour of events. Taking the ‘stadium sailing’ format out of Europe and into new markets, some with immense populations starved of sailing content, had to lead to an increase in the media value for sponsors and partners.

As the Extreme Sailing Series continues to test their business models with regards to media, streaming the Cowes round live to the internet, organisers OC Thirdpole have released an independent interim media evaluation report covering the first three events (Muscat, Qingdao and Istanbul) of the 9-Act global 2011 tour.

Commissioning such reports is expensive, but it is vital that sponsors and media analysts have independent research to base decisions on. There is still too much hyperbole in the industry about the real size of the audience for sailing – no matter what format.

Mark Turner, Executive Chairman of OC ThirdPole recognises that the PR headline figure is worthless to anyone serious about sailing as a commercial enterprise and says:

“First and foremost, we aim to be totally transparent with our methodology and results – and we’ve been using the same quite harsh methodology for three years now. We want our figures to be as realistic as possible, therefore no talk of ‘reach’ to billions of households – even if we are very happy with our expanded global TV footprint. Media evaluation figures are always treated with a level of scepticism – the most important thing for us is the continued strong progession of our global media results.

Compared with the first part of last year’s series, the coverage has increased by nearly 90%. Havas Sponsorship Insights project that the series will generate €23m of media value for the full year – nearly two and a half times the 2010 result. This number is considered conservative and discounts exceptional ‘one-off’ coverage of Act 2 in China, where capsizes generated significant interest.

Coverage included in this report includes over six hours of live television coverage across Turkey and the Balkans on the national broadcaster TRT which followed coverage of the Monaco F1 Grand Prix.

Alastair Macdonald, Director of Sponsorship Insights at Havas commented:

“This interim media evaluation report for the Extreme Sailing Series 2011, illustrates the level of media coverage the series has gained after the first three events. There has been a significant increase in the volume of coverage compared to the first three events of the 2010 series, including some outstanding exposure in Asia. We have used the amount of coverage gained so far this year to make a projection for exposure for the full nine-event series, and the value that this media coverage may deliver.

Mark Turner commented on the results:

“We are pleased with this continued upward progression in the level of media coverage achieved by the circuit. It’s obviously only one measure of the value of the event for sponsors and host venues, but it remains an important one for us to deliver ever increasing returns on investment for our different stakeholders.”

• More Sailing Media News
• More Extreme Sailing Series News

In December, the Extreme Sailing Series announced a new deal with sailing clothing brand Marinepool. The 3 year deal means that Marinepool is the official clothing partner of the, now global, series and also includes merchandising rights.

At the latest round of the Extreme Sailing Series in Istanbul, the new clothing line went on sale to the public for the first time and interest from fans seemed to be high.

The sailing clothing market is changing and brands that have enjoyed strong support in their home markets are looking to generate awareness around the world and open new markets.

Christoph Stadler, Marinepool’s Marketing Director says about the deal with the Extreme Sailing Series:

It’s an important co-operation to broaden the reach of our brand worldwide. It’s a global circuit and it’s just the right partner for us.

We’ve started selling the product in Turkey. We have developed a merchandising collection for the Extreme Sailing Series, particularly branded, trying to put the action and the close quarters sailing on the garments. The range will go on sale online very soon.

OC Thirdpole boss, Mark Turner is also happy with the Marinepool deal. He said that finding the right clothing partner, who has the same goals and wants to invest for the long term can be difficult. The OC Group has worked with many recognised sailing apparel brands and high-street fashion labels, but often they can be too big, or too small to devote time and resource to developing the partnership.

We caught up with Christoph Stadler in Istanbul outside the merchandising tent. Here’s what he had to say about the partnership with the Extreme Sailing Series and the city. (Or watch the video on YouTube)

More Extreme Sailing Series News..

With the announcement that the 34th America’s Cup will be hosted by the city of San Francisco, it’s a good time to revisit the World Yacht Racing Forum Panel which focussed on the business issues around hosting sailing events.

The panel was chaired by Mark Turner and featured presentation and insight from David Graham, Oman Sail; José Antonio Muñoz, Head of Department, Ministry for Tourism, Trade and Sport, Andalusian Government; Duarte Nobre Guedes, Presidente, Turismo Estoril; Robert Datnow, Director, The Sports Consultancy.

Now that Newport and Rome have built the expertise in bidding for a premier sailing event, they can pitch for several other Grand Prix sailing events that are looking for host city partners.

Mark Turner opened the debate by acknowledging that spectators are increasingly important for sailing events to be commercially successful, but asked – “who’s coming?”

Sailing has traditionally relied upon a network of yacht clubs to provide interest in events, but as the events themselves become a larger part of the revenue stream for promoters, this is not enough.

Based on bidding cycles for the Volvo Ocean Race, Extreme Sailing Series and World Match Racing Tour, there is an estimated 100 cities in the world who are actively engaged in trying to attract sailing events. There are even cities with yachting in their mission statements.

The most obvious benefit of hosting a sailing event is the direct tourism impact. Increased bed nights and hotel occupancy, restaurant and bar receipts and other spending in the market can be attributed to hosting events. Sometimes the link is not linear – one city used a sailing event as a way to promote its cuisine.

But as Robbert Datnow of the Sports Consultancy, who managed one of the largest tenders of this kind for the Volvo Ocean Race says, it’s not just about economic impact. Other benefits include:

• Showcasing marine infrastructure and industry
• Social benefits including job creation, youth programmes and education
• Political benefits.

For emerging markets and cites with a long term event strategy, developing bid capabilities can be a reason for attracting events. Just bidding increases skills and makes cities more ready to host events. This can also have infrastructure benefits.

For Andalucia, who host the final round of the Extreme Sailing Series, hosting the event is important, but so is the sport and the kind of sport. Part of the goal was to position Almeria as a sailing destination. Sailing is an important part of the tourism economy and the costs are cheaper than a major golf event.

The Extreme Sailing Series is akin to the experience of watching the World Rally Championship. The spectators are right up close to the action.

Andalucia estimate that the Extreme Sailing Series event gives the city a 5 times return on investment (ROI) in terms of economic impact. They also estimate a 15% increase in tourism.

For Oman Sail, the development of a sailing programme, which includes sponsorship of competitive teams, creation of sailing infrastructure and the ability to host major events like the Extreme Sailing Series has macroeconomic goals. The country is diversifying its revenues to reduce reliance on oil and sailing fits with an objective to attract premium tourists.

But promoting sailing in emerging markets is not straightforward. When Oman Sail promoted sailing, no-one came. When they promoted football and included sailing as a support act, new spectators were drawn to the sport.

For venues looking to attract events like the Volvo Ocean Race, there are key considerations that promoters are looking for. Increasingly, the infrastructure needs to be in place. This is not just the race village – rights holders are looking for public sector engagement and joined up thinking. This includes tourism, finance and transport.

More from the World Yacht Racing Forum

Panel 1 of the 2010 World Yacht Racing Forum

Panel Chairman – Richard Moore, CEO, Capitalize. Panel Members - Andrew Pindar OBE, Group Chairman, Team Pindar, Pau Serracanta, Moto GP, Managing Director, Dorna Sports SL, Mark Turner, Executive Chairman, OC Thirdpole and the Extreme Sailing Series.

This was the first discussion for the 2010 World Yacht Racing Forum. It’s always an interesting subject to compare sports against each other to see the relative values and how they can be used to achieve sponsor’s objectives. Coming just a few weeks after the Future of Sponsorship Conference, also presented by Richard Moore of Capitalize, the session began with some trend numbers.

Global sport sponsorship revenues are coming back. Growth is estimated at about 4% with banks and financial institutions returning to the market. 8 of the top 50 deals were financed from BRIC markets (Brazil, Russia, India, China) and mega-deals are also being done. (Bud Light have done a $200million dollar deal over 6 years with NFL and J.P. Morgan have sponsored Madison Square Garden for $30 a year)

Other trends include more properties trying to raise funds through crowd-sourced sponsorships – lots of small contributions adding up to the total required.

Pau Serracanta from Dorna, the rights-holders and promoters for MotoGP gave a lot of sailing people a lot to think about.

Dorna has a long term contract to deliver the sport. The deal lasts until 2031, which gives sponsors a real sense of longevity and security. Investments can be made for the long term. The long term nature of the deal also guarantees calendar consistency – something that the Sydney Hobart Race enjoys, but other sailing events struggle with.

Having a race start at 2pm on Sunday and knowing that June is the Netherlands, helps planning for sponsors, teams, manufacturers and others to reach consensus on other elements of the sport.

The sport of MotoGP is lucky to have an international star in Valentino Rossi, but finding these stars is not left to luck. One of the insights that Dorna gave to the conference is that the race organisers identified a risk in Australia, which had produced several World Champions and created a fan-base. Without anyone to follow after the retirement of Mick Doohan, Dorna needed to find a new star for Australian fans to support. Through talent scouting, the rights-holder found Casey Stoner.

As MotoGP moves to an Indian round, they are also looking to find local talent for fans to support there. There will be an Indian rider in the 125 class when the event goes to India in 2012.

Sailing on the other hand does not have this structure. Andrew Pindar admits that talent is not organised, but according to Mark Turner from OC Thirdpole, this can be a pro and a con.

Turner says that sailing is flexible, which makes it hard to define the product, though the value to a sponsor can also be customised. The challenge is to convey the structural chaos in a way that makes sense to sponsors. Outside bubble of sailing, the distinction between mono-hull and multi-hull doesn’t makes any sense.

Mark Turner also believes that sailing’s reliance on private funding has held back the sport from a media point of view. His argument is that sailors being paid as mercenaries to win races for wealthy owners have no imperative to communicate with the media. Once they have done their job to win, standing in front of a camera is not important.

Andrew Pindar is convinced that he gets Return on Investment (ROI) from sponsorship of sailing. The sailing sponsorship deal with GAC stemmed from the fact that Pindar had an established sailing programme.

In the Extreme Sailing Series, the presence of the 5th Man VIP spot is an important part of the value that sponsors get. Pindar’s business is about building business relationships and the platforms of the World Match Racing Tour and Extreme Series deliver.

Pindar believes that more could be done to bring sponsors closer together and allow them to do more business. He remembers the Challenge Business Club that Chay Blythe pioneered for the BT challenge and says it produced real results.

Dring questions, the panel discussed some rule of thumb ratios for activation. Richard Moore reminded the audience that sponsorship is not Venture Capital for a sailing project. There is further investment required.

Activation can be 3/1 or 2/1 – that is for every dollar of sponsorship, there is another 2 or 3 to be spent to get the best value and return, but sailing is less expensive to activate than some other sports. Team sponsorships come with a boat which is a great platform to activate – the experiential element means that activation can be lower.

So sailing still needs to be smarter. Pitches need to be customised and people looking for sponsorship need to realise that sponsors have hundreds of choices of clean global sports to choose from.

The money is increasingly out there though, and for those who are professional about their sailing sponsorship campaigns, there are brands who are willing to invest.

More World Yacht Racing Forum Updates.

With the leaders of the sport of sailing all gathered together in one place for the World Yacht Racing Forum in Estoril, we took the chance to ask some of them a set of eight questions.

The questions were prepared in advance and posed to Mark Turner from the Extreme Sailing Series, Jim O’Toole of the World Match Racing Tour, Knut Frostad of the Volvo Ocean Race and Richard Worth from the America’s Cup Event Authority.

The 8 Questions of Sport.

The questions we came up with to ask each of these commercial sailing operators were:

1. What is your ‘elevator pitch’? (If you had to ride 20 seconds in a lift with a potential customer, what would you say?)
2. Describe your customers?
3. Who are your consumers or end users?
4. What does a business model for a team look like?  (Prize Money / Sponsorship / Revenue share of rights)
5. How much does it take to win?
6. Who is your competition?
7. Who does it the best? Who do you look to for best practise?
8. What is the most important sports marketing innovation of the last 20 years?

(because of time and answers going in different directions, not all questions were asked to all the participants, but all the subjects were covered.)

Mark Turner – Chairman of OC Thirdpole,  Extreme Sailing Series.

More from the World Yacht Racing Forum here…

The Evolution of the Yacht Race.

The Extreme Sailing Series has always delivered a great product to a specificly targeted market in Europe. In 2010, OC Thirdpole experimented with an Asian series to ‘test the waters’ in emerging markets and there has always been a sense that the tour for Extreme 40 catamarans could be a global offer.

In 2011, the Extreme series will visit not just Europe, S.E. Asia and the Middle East, it will also add a round in Turkey and the USA.

10 teams have already signed up to the series, but others may find some good arguments in the markets to go back to prospective sponsors, because the price tag of around £750,000 will be similar to the price for 5 European markets.

OC Thirdpole put on a good show in Estoril last night, but they missed one trick. As the team line ups were revealed at the end of the presentation, one skipper stood out. Torvar Mirsky, will helm one of the two Oman Sail boats in 2011. Torvar is not just a great sailor, he has the potential to bring a new audience to the sport. The young Australian already has a substantial, ’Facebook Generation’ fanbase and a large proportion of them are women.

This is Real Sailing – ISAF says so.

One of the criticisms levelled at the Extreme Sailing Series in the past is that the cocktail of entertainment, commercialism and sailing somehow detracts from the competitive nature of the event. Despite the fact that the event attracts top professionals from all disciplines, there are some irregular formats that would have some old-style sailing folk shaking their heads.

Those people aren’t really OC’s market, but the first person on stage for the 2011 Extreme Sailing Series launch was Secretary General of ISAF – Jerome Pels. It was win-win politics. ISAF get to look like they care about something other than the Olympics and are behind one-on-one drag race sailing, and OC get to position the Extreme Sailing Series as proper sailing.

The Extreme Sailing Series Global.

OC have made some strategic decisions about which markets to take the Extreme Sailing Series to in 2011. Like F1, there will be a European series within the worldwide calendar, but also like F1, the emerging markets are cities and countries where the tourism authorities ‘get it’. Turkey especially is a very savvy choice for a sailing event. When asked about the factors considered when choosing a venue, OC Thirdpole Chairman Mark Turner said:

There needs to be wind and weather and a stadium, but there also needs to be an engaged host venue.

Curious perhaps that Cowes, UK is still on the list of host cities for 2011.

The 9 race calendar will be.

1. Act 1: 22-24 February, Muscat, Oman (20-21 ‘open-water’ racing*)
2. Act 2: 15-17 April, China (13-14 ‘open-water’ racing)
3. Act 3: 27-29 May, Istanbul, Turkey (25-26 ‘open-water’ racing)
4. Act 4: 30 June – 4 July, Boston, USA (all days public event)
5. Act 5: 6-12 August, Cowes, UK (all days public event)
6. Act 6: 16-18 September, Trapani, Italy (14-15 ‘open-water’ racing)
7. Act 7: 30 September – 2 October, Nice, France (28-29 ‘open-water’ racing)
8. Act 8: 12-16 October, Almeria, Spain (all days public event)
9. Act 9: 9-11 December, Singapore (7-8 ‘open-water’ racing)

Turner has positioned the Extreme Sailing Series as unashamedly commercial. The teams have to justify their campaigns to sponsors, and the events have to make the numbers work. The objective is to make the Extreme Sailing seris the gateway to sailing for new brands and new venues.

Video interviews and more analysis will follow next week after the World Yacht Racing Forum, meanwhile there is a video replay of the 2011 launch here…

New Owners for the Extreme 40 Class

OC Events, the promoters of the Extreme Sailing Series have announced the acquisition of the Extreme 40 Class from Tornado Sport. The deal means that OC will own the design and build rights for the boat which the Extreme Sailing Series is built on. The agreement also means that OC Events can create efficiencies by taking over the management of the class, technical support for boat owners including those competing in the ESS and boat sales.

“We are looking to expand and improve the Extreme Sailing Series on all fronts. With multi-format competition at top class venues of different types – city centres, ocean facing, rivers and lakes, top class race management and on-water umpiring, development of the outstanding B2B VIP experience that has been at the heart of the event since the beginning, and a bigger than ever entertainment package for spectators on the water and on shore including our Sailing Rocks™ gigs, the Extreme Sailing Series will be going up a level.

We have plans in place to expand the TV production and distribution, growing both the news service and the successful worldwide TV series, as well as the online content. We plan to expand the presence of other classes as warm-up acts, to both race and show-off, like the Moth dinghies and windsurfers this year.”

Whilst there is an encouraging amount of new team potential, existing teams that have helped grow the circuit will be given priority should the limit be reached. Other evolutions in the rules are expected to ensure that the team budgets remain under tight control, in the value-for-money commercially funded circuit.

“We have invested heavily in this event since 2007 with good reason. It offers an exceptional return on investment to all stakeholders, in particular, for the ever-improving quality brands that we already have as team sponsors. We shall be announcing some excellent new partnerships at venue, event and team level in the coming months.”

More Extreme 40 News…

OC Group, the company behind the Extreme Sailing Series, has announced today that it will merge with European based ThirdPole. The non-cash deal will bring together the two companies’ competences to form a broad based outdoor sports and events company. The two brands will remain, OC continuing to specialise in professional sailing teams and events, and ThirdPole in outdoor events ranging from running, cycling and biathlon, to more extreme sports including adventure and trail running races.

OC and ThirdPole combined aspire to become a world leader of outdoor events on all playing fields: oceans, lakes, mountains, forests and deserts and city centres.

The new business will fully own the existing operating companies in France, Switzerland and the UK, and will continue their work with global brands, host cities and regions, sporting federations and other promoters all over the world. The combined business already has events in place for 2011 in more than a dozen countries in Europe, USA and Asia.

Mark Turner, who has been rumoured to head up the next America’s Cup organisation, will remain fully engaged in the overall business as Executive Chairman. He said:

“The merger with ThirdPole is a really exciting new venture for us. OC Group has a great team of people who have delivered first-class events and sailing programmes worldwide over the past decade and our clients can rest assured that we will continue to do so in the future. ThirdPole already manages some outstanding outdoor event properties and we can combine our skills and experience to enhance what we do already in sailing, and help build some great new events together as well.

Those who know me well know I have a passion for a number of outdoor sports beyond sailing – that’s certainly been a key factor for me in this new development. The Outdoor Events sector has been developing fast, particularly in France, where I’ve spent most of my time these past years and it’s an exciting diversification for our company. This will not affect our determination for OC to remain as a leading player in professional sailing. Both sectors are well positioned at a time when strong sporting values, accessibility for the fans, and the importance of our natural environment are valued more than ever by brands and venues in the sports sponsorship world. We’ve never been afraid to push the boundaries in sport or to challenge tradition and these values, along with a very strong work ethic, will remain core to our strategy.

There have been a number of new and interesting opportunities recently on a personal and business level, but this one will allow me to get closer again to the incredible sportsmen and women that take on amazing challenges. Motivating people to push beyond their limits has always been the most rewarding aspect of sport business for me.

ThirdPole was created by Rémi Duchemin and Benjamin Chandelier, both former employees at Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO), the organiser of the Tour de France, the Paris International Marathon, the Alstom French Golf Open and other major events. As Head of Business Development, Rémi was responsible for the creation and management of the Merrell Oxygen Challenge and worked across all the sports that ASO are renowned for.

Although a young company, ThirdPole has already organised its own mass participation events in the endurance sports arena, such as the Geneva Marathon for Unicef, and has delivered consulting services to other events like the Merrell Oxygen Challenge (unique outdoor festival with mountain-biking, trail running and orienteering in the Cantal, France), the Biathlon World Cup 2011 in Annecy-Le Grand Bornand, and also for brands attracted by the strong values and potential of these disciplines. ThirdPole is developing several new projects and events in Western Europe and beyond, especially in the fast-growing market of running and cycling.

Rémi Duchemin said:

“We are very proud of the marriage of sailing and endurance sports, two worlds which maintain very close relations and common values, such as, nature, humility, facing adversity and conviviality. The new business born from the merger of OC and ThirdPole aspires to become a world leader of Outdoor Events on all playing fields: oceans, lakes, mountains, forests and deserts but also city centres. The new group has the privilege to work with a dynamic, international and multicultural team, driving the evolution towards more sustainable business practice. The skills convergence of OC and ThirdPole, in particular event management, logistics, communications, sales and office management, will allow us to set up a strong strategy to reach our ambitious objectives. “

OC Events, which is part of the OC Group is a major player in the sport of sailing. The list of projects and campaigns that it is involved with is extensive. As well as the award-winning and groundbreaking Extreme Sailing Series™, the company is co-creator and consultant to the Barcelona World Race, owner of The Transat™ single-handed transatlantic race, and Organiser, on behalf of Artemis Investment Management, of The Artemis Challenge.

Offshore Challenges, the sailing team division, will continue putting together effective racing campaigns, in the IMOCA circuit (most recently with Artemis Ocean Racing and BT Team Ellen), with Extreme 40s, and with the development of the Artemis Offshore Academy.

OC Group also remains strategic and technical consultant to the Oman Sail project, that uses sailing to contribute to the development of Oman and Omanis, which OC helped create and develop in 2007. OC also continues to advise and work with other brands in sailing, such as, Nespresso with the Nespresso Cup.

Last week in Cowes, sailing fans got to see several forms of the sport side by side. Beside the amateurs, who disappeared off the start line into all corners of the Solent, was the 1851 Cup – an exhibition match for version 5 America’s Cup boats, the Artemis Challenge for the IMOCA 60 class and the Extreme Sailing Series.

Each of these events is designed for a different audience. the general racing is for competitors – participants who drive the grass roots of the sport. the americas cup also exists for competitors, just more wealthy ones – with spectators requiring sizable power boats to watch. On the other hand, The Extreme Series unapologetically places the spectators at the centre of their product offer.

Part of the product that OC Events is selling with the extreme series is a sailing format that rewards good sailors and punishes the smallest of mistakes.

There is a dark side of many spectator sports that tempts viewers to keep watching because there is a high risk of something going wrong. Just as a percentage of ice hockey fans want to see a fight or NASCAR fans want to see a wreck, the prospect of an extreme 40 flipping or breaking adds a different dimension to the sport of sailing that many other formats either fail to communicate or hush up.

Some may want to criticise the promotion of a 40 foot carbon catamaran sailing into a wall at 35 mph, but the 50,000+ Youtube views of Groupama’s accident at cowes week dwarfs viewing numbers of any other clip from the event. People are still talking about it, but they are also talking about the good news too.

I was asked again last week – “If you had a client with a decent budget, which sailing event would you place it with.” Like all good sponsorship consultants, my answer was “it depends” – because different sponsors have different objectives. However, the Extreme Sailing Series consistently delivers to its sponsors and partners and has aggressive plans for the future.

Regular readers will know that we have a problem with the phrase ‘the F1 of sailing’ because nothing in the sport currently comes close. But if the Extreme Sailing Series expands from its current European and Asian events into a couple more international markets, then the series may just be the platform to help sailing really go pro.