One event that is trying to use the same model is the Barcelona Round the World Race. The event’s organising body, the FNOB (Barcelona Foundation for Ocean Sailing), is trying to create a World Class event for professional offshore sailors, but also used the race to promote offshore yacht racing in Spain through the ‘Barcelona Ocean Sailing Base’; a structure that brings together industries, universities, logistical support and sponsor research to help foster new talent in the offshore sailing world. The initiative also supports the “Escuderia”, a sailing team that includes four IMOCA 60’s and gives a fantastic opportunity to some new and very talented sailors.

The World Yacht Racing Forum talks to Andor Serra, Director General of the FNOB in their latest newsletter. While it doesn’t touch on the calendar conflict between the Barcelona World Race and the VELUX 5 OCEANS Race – both for Open 60 yachts, the interview gives an insight into the goals of the project.

WYRF: What is your status of preparation towards the Barcelona World Race, six months ahead of the event?

Andor Serra: “We are on schedule! We have been organizing two big test events which took place over the Spring and last month (the New-York – Barcelona Transoceanic Sailing Record and the Vuelta Espana a Vela). This has helped us identify our weaknesses and correct them. We know precisely what we need to do before the race.”

WYRF: What are your current priorities?

Andor Serra: “We are developing some technological projects aimed at increasing the coverage of the race. Our biggest project is Barcelona World Race Television; it will help us to produce and distribute high quality footage of the event, and will increase our visibility.”

WYRF: So your main objective is the same as the America’s Cup’s?

Andor Serra: “There must be a good reason for this… The sport of sailing always struggles to be on television and it is essential for event organizers to invest in order to increase their return through television.”

WYRF: You are organizing an event on one hand and promoting offshore yacht racing on another, through (amongst others) a sailing team that comprises four boats. How do both projects relate to one another?

Andor Serra: “The two projects compliment each other; they are also independent from each other. We needed to create this structure in Spain because there was no culture of short-handed offshore racing in our country. We have therefore developed a structure that brings together industries, universities, logistical support, sponsor research etc. Its ultimate purpose is to generate value.”

WYRF: Can this concept be replicated? Perhaps it would be a good model for other countries…

Andor Serra: “Well, every country is different and has different needs. Our culture is very close to the French one and our model is the training centre in Port La Forêt. It is a very efficient model that can surely be replicated; however, before you create a structure in a country, you need to be sure you have enough candidates…”

More World Yacht Racing Forum News…

Artemis Offshore Academy: Artemis will support a UK training programme of excellence for British short-handed sailors, providing a structure to bring talented sailors up through the ranks. Designed to help them win major offshore solo and short-handed races in the future, the ultimate goal is to put a British sailor in a strong position to win the Vendée Globe in 2016 or 2020. Artemis will continue their support of solo offshore sailor Jonny Malbon for this season and the first intake into the Academy will be competing for a scholarship to undertake a Figaro campaign.

Mini campaign:

as part of the Academy programme, Artemis will provide a ‘race ready’ boat if an appropriate British sailor with proven potential is forthcoming to compete in this season.

Cowes Week 2010:

Artemis will support Britain’s best-known sailing regatta this year in a partnership that will see competitor entry fees remain at the same level as 2009. They will also continue their support of the Red Arrows display on the final Friday, a spectacle enjoyed by thousands on and off the water.

Artemis Challenge 2010 confirmed:

A successful event since 2007, and the only annual UK-based IMOCA race, the Artemis Challenge will feature an A-list of offshore racers and celebrities on 3rd August.

IMOCA 60:

After 4 years of IMOCA 60 racing, Artemis Ocean Racing’s IMOCA 60 will compete in races to benefit up and coming talent, as well as the Artemis Challenge, but will not compete in the major IMOCA events at the end of the year. The boat will go on the market by the Autumn.

Since 2006 Artemis Ocean Racing has been active in the highly competitive IMOCA 60 class, competing in solo and double-handed races, building a radical new IMOCA 60 yacht, and entering the tough solo Vendée Globe non-stop round the world race. In addition to the sailing team, Artemis has also supported a number of IMOCA 60 events including The Artemis Transat 2008 and the annual Artemis Challenge, as well as supporting the Even Keel charitable project that utilises the Artemis 20 boat, designed for disabled sailors and used by Hilary Lister in her round Britain voyage.

Artemis Investment Management will now continue to support a number of initiatives from the grass roots up to fully professional racing in 2010. The next phase will concentrate on a long-term commitment to British solo sailing talent, with the objective to propel young British offshore solo talent to the fore.

Artemis Offshore Academy: Developing British Sailing Talent

With a long-term aspiration of putting a British sailor in a position to win the solo Vendée Globe in 2016 or 2020, the Artemis Offshore Academy is being formed to secure a pipeline of up-and-coming sailing talent. The Academy will provide a structure that can help all whose potential is yet to be fully realised.

An Advisory Board has been established to oversee the creation of the Academy with the objective of defining the selection and training process. The Advisory Board will consist of 6-7 ‘industry’ non-executive directors including Rod Carr (ex-RYA Chairman); two leading current short-handed sailors; Gilles Chiorri (OC Events Director and former top Figaro sailor); Edward Gorman (former sailing correspondent, The Times, now Deputy Foreign Editor); and Mark Turner (OC Group CEO) who can provide the necessary guidance and expertise. The Advisory Board will also start the process of recruiting the best coaches and mentors for the programme having studied and experienced the French training schools in Port La Foret and Le Grande Motte where Jonny Malbon has been training all winter for this year’s Figaro season.

“France are the benchmark nation in the single-handed ocean racing arena,” said Rod Carr. “In order to help move talented and determined British sailors from their current position to winning a race like the Vendée, we need to put in place a structured training programme that focuses the best advice in the world on a small group of talented sailors. Britain has the talent and technology to match France’s current domination in this field – what we lack is a coordinated, co-operative approach that supports a personalised training programme for every sailor in the squad.”

The Artemis Offshore Academy will operate from a variety of bases to maximize the effectiveness of the training in British waters during the summer, including the Weymouth & Portland Sailing Academy, and in the South of France, La Grande Motte, already an established French Figaro school, in the winter. Four Figaro One-Design boats have already been purchased and are being refitted at OC’s Cowes base.

The Academy will focus on three groups of sailors:

• Development Squad of 8-12 sailors training on the Figaro boats, developing skills and able to qualify for the ‘Scholarship’ programme in the Figaro Class or Mini.
• Associate Sailors who have managed to get funding for their own campaign, may own a Figaro themselves, but who would benefit from the Academy’s coaching programmes.
• Ambassador Sailors who are already competing on the international short-handed stage but can benefit from being part of a knowledge sharing and coordinated training programme and, ultimately, assist in the career development of the next generation of short-handed sailors.

The aim is to have the first trainees on site from September with up to a dozen students training full-time and others on part-time or specific training modules. A selection process will take place twice a year in spring and autumn.

Samantha Davies, who skippered AOR II in the 2009 Transat Jacques Vabre, commented:

“I would say that my success in the last Vendée Globe was thanks to the ‘path’ I took to graduate into being an IMOCA 60 skipper. For me the Figaro is a compulsory step towards the Vendée Globe. What you learn in the Figaro is directly applied to your IMOCA 60. It is in this class that you learn the basics of top-level competitive solo-sailing, such as, auto-pilot management, sleep management, seamanship in storm conditions. In the Figaro Class solo racing is done at Olympic standard with respect to tactics, sail trim and rig tune, so if you are not training like an Olympic athlete you will not win! This is why a squad-system is the way forward. I benefited from the training with the Port La Foret squad as there was nothing available in the UK. The Academy will now be providing British short-handed sailors with the training base that we have been missing up until now.”

A shorter-term outcome of the programme will be to get the Academy trainees competing on the Figaro and Mini circuit before moving on to Class 40 and IMOCA 60 racing which is the natural progression to the top of the solo world.

More UK Sailing News…

The same format applies to the VELUX 5 OCEANS race, which has announced the dates of the starts in the 2010/11 edition of the race. The race will start and end in the French port of La Rochelle and visit Cape Town in South Africa, Wellington in New Zealand, Salvador in Brazil and Charleston in the USA.

• Ocean Sprint 1: La Rochelle to Cape Town – 7,500 nautical miles. Start date: October 17
• Ocean Sprint 2: Cape Town to Wellington – 7,000 nautical miles. Start date: December 12
• Ocean Sprint 3: Wellington to Salvador – 7,400 nautical miles. Start date: February 6
• Ocean Sprint 4: Salvador to Charleston – 4,000 nautical miles. Start date: April 10
• Ocean Sprint 5: Charleston to La Rochelle – 3,600 nautical miles. Start date: May 14

While adding stopovers and time to the race adds cost, sponsors can activate campaigns in a wider variety of markets than a n0n-stop race.

VELUX 5 OCEANS race director David Adams said:

For sponsors, there are opportunities for international media, hospitality and promotions in some of the world’s most spectacular harbour cities. For spectators, there are more opportunities to meet the inspirational skippers at the various ports, and to watch the spectacular Sprint starts and finishes, whether ‘live’ or via the media or internet.”

“The VELUX 5 OCEANS race management team is working with our city partners to deliver high quality stopovers for skippers, providing world class services, global media coverage and reducing costs as much as possible across the board.”

More VELUX 5 OCEANS News…

Rather than just trading off associations with the sport for brand positioning purposes, manufacturers of marine products gain a more direct benefit from supporting the sport.

U.S. solo sailor Brad Van Liew will face the 30,000 miles of the VELUX 5 OCEANS 2010-11 race with B&G and Simrad Yachting electronics onboard, confident that their superior autopilots, instrumentation, and navigation equipment will not only keep him safe, but lend a competitive advantage to his racing.

Van Liew said:

“B&G has invested a great deal of energy and expertise into developing the industry’s top products since my last race around the globe in 2003. When I cannot be at the helm, B&G’s autopilots and instruments will step-in as the driver, while my B&G Deckman software and Simrad chartplotter and radar will help me make the tactical decisions necessary to be competitive and safe.”

Being alone at sea for the better part of nine months in some of the most brutal conditions on Earth begs the need for high performance, reliable electronics. Van Liew will fill the role of driver, tactician, navigator, trimmer and bow man – not to mention medic, cook and communicator. B&G Pilots are world-renowned for their performance and reliability, which Van Liew says are key factors whether he is blasting off through the volatile Southern Ocean or navigating the more finicky areas of the race course. The latest B&G gear boasts exceptional display technology, ease of use, ease of installation and durability. B&G’s Deckman is also the world’s most advanced tactical navigation software and will assist Van Liew in making critical decisions about race strategy and the course he will choose on each of the 5 intense ocean sprints.

Sean Hatherley, Director of Boatbuilder Sales at Navico said:

“We are thrilled that Brad has chosen B&G and Simrad for his race entry in the VELUX 5 OCEANS. I’ve followed Brad’s two previous successful solo races around the globe closely, and it is clear that he is serious about being as competitive as possible with the highest performance electronics and navigational software available that put him in a position to win.”

Competing in the exciting and environmentally conscious ECO 60 Class, Van Liew and his shore-support team have their work cut out for them, in completing a total refit of a 1998 racing machine. The ECO 60 Class demands the use of recycled boats and rewards competitors for their accomplishments in sustainable practices. The race boat has essentially been completely deconstructed, and the team has started the labor-intense reconstruction phase in preparation for the October 17, 2010 race start. Sponsors supporting the Lazarus Project include Samson, Harken, Awlgrip, AlpineAire, Pierside Boatworks, High and Dry Boat Works, Seabreeze Marina and Charleston Rigging & Marine Hardware.

More Velux 5 Oceans News…

One company that is bucking the ‘old white man’ trend is GAES, who will sponsor the all female crew of Anna Corbella and Dee Caffari in the Barcelone World Race.

The IMOCA Open 60 “GAES Centros Auditivos” was launched this week at the Reial Club Marítim de Barcelona. On successful completion of the 46,300 km race, Anna will become the first Spanish female to circumnavigate the globe non stop.

During the event, Anna Corbella expressed her ‘great vision’, saying:

‘It is the first time I will participate in a race around the world. Dee and I are keen to show that women and men compete as equals on the water.’

Dee Caffari added:

‘With the support of Aviva and my team, I was fortunate to have been given a similar opportunity to the one Anna now has. I am delighted to be sharing my experiences and be part of the team that will help Anna continue to progress in the competitive environment of sailing around the world.’

Antonio Gassó, Director General and CEO of GAES, a leader in hearing aids, said:

‘This new sponsorship is a further step in linking the company to the world of sport and more specifically that of ocean sailing with which we strongly identify. As a company we share the values associated with the sport of sailing, such as teamwork, achievement and effort.’

GAES’ support for the world of sailing began in 2007 after providing the Desafió Español, the only Spanish boat that participated in the 2007 America’s Cup, with a unique advanced communication system. Last year, through GAES Solidaria, the company sponsored six Spanish teams who participated in the last Transat 6,50 / La Rochelle, Salvador de Bahia, more popularly known as the Mini-Transat.

Pere Alcober, sports delegate for the City of Barcelona Council, commented on the importance of the Barcelona World Race and the involvement of businesses in this challenge, saying:

‘The race allows athletes such as Anna Corbella and Dee Caffari to fulfill their dreams, while again showing the world that Barcelona is synonymous with high-level sport.’

More Open 60 News…

Some sponsorship news from the IMOCA 60 Class. While many competitors from the last Vendee Globe are still shopping for backers,  Dominique Wavre has announced that Swiss Private Bank, Mirabaud, will sponsor his Barcelona World Race 2010, Transat Jacques Vabre 2011 and Vendée Globe 2012 campaigns.

Dominique Wavre has participated in seven round-the-world races. In the Vendée Globe, he placed fifth in 2001 and fourth in 2004, before winning a splendid third place at the Barcelona World Race 2007-08 with his co-skipper Michèle Paret.

Antonio Palma, Partner and CEO of Mirabaud, explained the reasons for the partnership by saying:

“Our partnership with Dominique Wavre is in line with our continuous support for sailing, but opens up new horizons for us. In recent years, we have supported numerous projects that all shared the same quest for excellence and high technical prowess. Our entry into the 60-foot IMOCA class will enable us to reach a new public and to strengthen our attachment to this sport. We are delighted to be sharing these moments of intense emotion with Dominique and his team. ”

Mirabaud is teaming up with Dominique Wavre for a long-term, international programme founded on a common set of sporting, technological and human values. We were captivated by Dominique’s determination and expertise. His rational, calculated approach appealed to us, as well as the highly technical nature of his project. We decided to commit ourselves to the multi-year venture because it embodies numerous values that are dear to us : enterprising spirit, competition, striving for excellence, and technology. ”

The Open 60 Mirabaud allows us to enter a new phase and broaden our horizons.  The Mirabaud Group has grown constantly in recent years, and as we have expanded, we have opened subsidiaries around the world…including in Spain, where the Barcelona World Race will start on 31 December of this year! It was only logical that our sporting ambitions should expand in kind, with the symbolic aim of going around the world.

The partnership between Mirabaud and Dominique Wavre will enable Venture Finanzas, Mirabaud’s new subsidiary in Spain, to communicate actively in this market. The Spanish financial company will begin operating under the Mirabaud brand by mid year, and will be directly associated with the Barcelona World Race via The Mirabaud racing yacht. ”

Mirabaud has participated in sailing competitions since 2005 as the main partner of the Bol d’Or Mirabaud, the world’s largest freshwater regatta. It also sponsors Thomas Jundt’s hydrofoil sailboat, the Mirabaud LX, one of the most innovative prototypes of the decade. Mirabaud is moreover the main partner for the Surprise category on Lake Geneva ( the Mirabaud trophy ) and supported the UK women’s Yngling racing team, gold medal winners at the Beijing Olympic games.

Dominique Wavre and Michèle Paret will be at the start line in Barcelona on 31 December for this double-handed, round-the-world regatta with no stops. It will be a 3-month race of the highest level, and a thrilling human adventure – not only for the crew onboard the Mirabaud, but for the supporters, friends and partners of this ambitious project as well.

Photo : Jean-Guy Python / Mirabaud: From left to right: Andor Serra, Dominique Wavre, Michèle Paret, Antonio Palma.

Alex Thomson Racing have announced that their new Managing Director will be Stewart Hosford. Most recently, Hosford was Head of Sourcing at RBS (Royal Bank of Scotland) but also brings significant experience to the role, with six years as a Director at Cap Gemini Ernst & Young. The world of sports sponsorship is also not new for the 36 year old. In his previous role Hosford was instrumental in the signing many of the RBS major sports sponsorship deals including Tennis, Rugby, Golf and F1. He managed a team of 200 with a multi-billion spend across everything from marketing, sponsorship, HR, IT, property and logistics.

His new position will see him manage the 12 strong team, including Hugo Boss skipper Alex Thomson.

F1 teams, Premier League teams and other professional sports organisations employ strong commercial teams run by some of the best business people in the world. These are not just the best business people in the sport, they are the best business people period. While some IMOCA Open 60 teams are still amateur organisations, at the elite level, with multimillion dollar budgets, running this kind of team is a business. From the technical world of boat design and optimisation, the needs of a high profile sponsor, events and marketing activation teams and a multi million pound budget to manage, all that without the team even going sailing. This is not a small business, every decision is crucial and can make the difference between the team winning or losing that ultimate goal.

Hosford said:

“For me this role is about steering Alex Thomson Racing into a new period. Managing an international sporting team at the highest level, holds parallels to many of the day to day realities that exist within the financial and corporate world. Million dollar deals, delivering on objectives, decision making at the highest level and a clear understanding of the differences between hitting your targets and falling by the wayside. I am passionate about ensuring that we continue to raise the standards within the industry (sailing) both through our performance on the water and sponsorship activation on shore. I intend to be very ‘hands on’, and my focus is not just on the next four years but planning ahead to ensure the prolonged future of Alex Thomson Racing.”

The appointment will mean skipper Alex Thomson will be able to focus 100% on his performance on the water. He has in the past added the management role in the company to that of skipper. Now however he will be able to do what he does best, sail fast and fully focus on his training with the ultimate aim of winning the 2012 edition of the Vendée Globe.

Thomson said:

‘Stewart joining the team will mean a big load off my shoulders; I can concentrate on racing and not have to be distracted by day to day aspects of the business. I believe he will bring a new structure to the business that will ultimately continue to improve my performance on the water. Stewart certainly brings a level of networking and knowledge of the corporate world, which will be invaluable in taking Alex Thomson Racing forward. We’ve done two Fastnet races together, so know each other well and I’m really looking forward to working alongside him’

Whilst the team is undergoing its own restructure, the Juan Kouyoumdjian IMOCA Open 60 has been hidden away in the build shed at Green Marine in Lymington throughout the winter, allowing Alex Thomson Racing and Juan Yacht Design to breathe new life into this already radical boat. Now widely considered to be the most powerful IMOCA Open 60 in the fleet, due to the grandfathering rule, the new Hugo Boss will feature some exciting design changes that Alex and his team are confident will ensure success on the water.

With the new boat completing re-fit, both skipper Alex and managing partner of Alex Thomson Racing Sir Keith Mills have been putting in place the team of professionals required to deliver on the company’s goals.

Expect more team announcements over the coming weeks as Stewart and the team at Alex Thomson Racing prepare for the season ahead in the newly refitted Juan Kouyoumdjian designed Hugo Boss.

Record attempts are an interesting category in sailing sponsorship. While ‘risky’ in terms of success, they appeal to a wide audience and provide a mechanism to activate a sponsorship outside of any fixed event calendar. Where the record attempt can be completed with an existing boat, the marginal cost is very low and as such, return on investment is easier to achieve.

Below is an excerpt from the PR WEEK article.

• Campaign: Around Britain and Ireland Record Attempt
• Client: Aviva
• PR team: Synergy
• Timescale: June-July 2009
• Budget: £10,000

As title sponsor of the Aviva Ocean Racing campaign, Aviva has supported British yachtswoman Dee Caffari since 2005. By completing the Aviva Challenge (May 2006) and Vendee Globe (February 2009), Caffari became the first woman to sail solo, non-stop, around the world in both directions.

Aviva was keen to capitalise on Caffari’s increased profile to elongate the campaign and support the migration of its UK brand Norwich Union to Aviva, forming part of the group’s ‘name change’ campaign that took place in June 2009.

Objectives

• To increase awareness of Aviva within the UK and support the name change campaign
• To strengthen the association between Aviva and Dee Caffari
• To extend beyond the traditional sailing audience.

Strategy and plan

It was decided that Caffari and three other female sailors would embark on an attempt to break the world record for sailing a mono-hull around Britain and Ireland, onboard the yacht Aviva. The previous record was held by an all-male crew. To add further news interest, one member of Caffari’s crew was her only other female Vendee Globe race rival, Samantha Davies, a fellow high-profile British sailor.

A female, non-sailing journalist was invited to spend a day training with the Aviva crew to gain an understanding of the sport, in order to move coverage away from a traditional sailing audience. The world record attempt was sold to media with the all-female hook. [ Y$: Originally, it was intended that the journalist would take part in the entire campaign, but selling the story or getting someone to pay for her to cover the event in its entirety did not happen.]

The PR team ran a 24-hour press office throughout the world record attempt, including telephone interviews with the crew, imagery and regular updates that increased in frequency towards the finish in order to drive anticipation.

A tracker showing the exact location of the yacht, compared with the existing record, was created on the Aviva Ocean Racing website.

Measurement and evaluation

• In total 100 pieces of coverage were generated over a one-month period.
• One-third of these were on TV and totalled 42 minutes of UK airtime.
• The BBC covered the world record attempt from departure to completion, and covered the completion live with seven pieces on BBC One’s Breakfast programme and six on the BBC news channel.
• In total 12 pieces of national print coverage appeared in various publications including The Guardian and the Daily Express.
• Seventy-one per cent of all coverage featured a logo or photograph.
• [Y$ : The campaign was extensively 'Tweeted' by Dee, Sam and @jopayton and there was a high level of engagement via 'retweets' and blogs ]

More…

While the financial return might have been 93:1 (presumably calculated using equivalent media value), there is nothing in the article to suggest that the campaign met the stated objectives. Without the participation of the non-sailing journalist for the actual attempt, the third objective would have been compromised.

Both races feature UK teams, so we decided to follow both events using the web. While the Louis Vuitton Trophy came way out ahead in terms of the experience, the teams competing in the TJV seemed to evoke a much more personal response from fans.

Following on from the Louis Vuitton Pacific Series held in Auckland at the beginning of the year, the Louis Vuitton Trophy, held in Nice, is providing live streaming of video and an an audio commentary for each race, augmented by the cool Virtual Eye animations that allow non-sailing fans to get a really good handle on what is going on – they need it too – racing is quite a way offshore and with an air temperature of 9-10 degrees Celsius, it would be a keen fan indeed that was watching from the water. The French based Transat Jacques Vabre site is not so easy to navigate with almost no real-time information available leading up to the start of the race yesterday in La Havre. Eventually we found the real-time tracking page by going to the Artemis Ocean Racing site and finding a link from there.

Over the last couple of weeks, we have been critical of some of the teams competing in the Louis Vuitton Series. Websites have been flat and static with sign-up pages for press but not much to keep fans engaged. TEAMORIGIN have finally got themselves a Facebook page and have amassed 577 fans who can tune into news and video from the team. BMW ORACLE sidetracked any attention their sailors might have been getting in Nice by showing off their new wing this weekend, but the team has added a ‘Social Media’ page to their website, have been providing regular updates on the blog and facebook page and say that Twitter is coming soon! Emirates Team NZ’s site is pretty traditional – some news and some pics and Azzura has a big facebook following. Most of the Twitter traffic for the Louis Vuitton Trophy is automated media bots with a couple of journalists on the scene and a couple more tweeting from the web-feed.

In contrast to the corporate feel of the Louis Vuitton Trophy, some of the personalities racing in the Transat Jacques Vabre are shining through. While it was hard to work out what was going on from the official site, regular updates were being sent to the internet via Twitter from Dee Caffari, Alex Thomson, Mike Golding and OC Group CEO Mark Turner amongst others. Fans also responded, sending messages in real time.

While we seem to bang on about Twitter, there are more traditional audiences that can be brought along for the journey using other methods. Sam Davies, whose blog updates from the Vendee Globe were heartfelt and entertaining, is writing an online diary for the Telegraph, and already there is an engaging tone that speaks to both the experts and the more casual fans. Part of her update today says:

We will be using an enormous new spinnaker! It is a HUGE monster that nearly covers two tennis courts and measures 485msq in total. We need this surface area to pull Artemis along downwind as she is a bit of a heavy boat! For an idea – this sail is more than 100 m2 bigger than “Sophie” – my big spinnaker on Roxy (who is a lighter boat!). It is a bit daunting, but in training Sidney and I managed to deal with the hundreds of square metres of cloth – even when it is pretty windy!

Looking forward to putting it up in the race…. Actually, I guess I need to find a name for the sail too, in true tradition! Any suggestions welcome from Telegraph readers!

The Louis Vuitton Trophy runs until the 22nd. Perhaps, once the competition moves from the round robin to the finals, more interest will focus on the event which is supposed to rival the America’s Cup for glamour and prestige. meanwhile, we’ll be tracking exposure and coverage for both the Louis Vuitton Trophy and the TJV, both at an event level and a team level to see who is delivering for their sponsors!

1. A brand that understands the value of sponsorship in the first place.
2. An understanding of which type of sailing platform will deliver return on investment and objectives.

Over the last year, economics have sorted out the companies who include sponsorship as part of a well thought out, integrated marketing strategy and those who were doing it because someone told them it was a good idea and they enjoyed the hospitality. While sponsorship was seen by some as a way of justifying executive perks and subsequently withdrawn when it ‘didn’t look good’, other brands who really understand their audiences and objectives have stuck with their relationships and a few have even extended them.

In recent years, Hugo Boss has been one of the most recognisable and innovative sponsors in sailing. Alex Thomson’s distinctive black open 60 showed how 300 square metres of sail area could become a massive racing / floating billboard with its groundbreaking boat branding.

In 2009, Hugo Boss and Alex Thomson have continued to innovate and get the most value out of their platform. The boat has been strategically positioned at major sporting events including the Monaco F1 Grand Prix, attracting extra television exposure and several photo stunts have been picked up by media around the world.

Alex Thomson is the only UK Open 60 sailor that started the Transat Jacques Vabre yesterday with a fully funded campagin to take him through the next Vendee Globe. Dee Caffari’s relationship with Aviva has come to an end, Sam Davies is skippering Artemis for this race only and is looking for a reported €9 Million for a four year campaign. Ecover will not continue their backing of Mike Golding and even BT’s relationship with OC Group is ending. While there is natural churn of sponsors after each Vendee Globe cycle, questions have been asked about the value of the IMOCA 60 class.

The news that Hugo Boss have renewed their relationship with Alex Thomson should be good news for other sailors in the class. The endorsement of such a savvy sponsor should help others make a case for backing.

Till Pohlmann Head of Sports Sponsorship for Hugo Boss said:,

“We are delighted to retain our title sponsorship of Alex and his team. HUGO BOSS has seen the IMOCA class deliver substantial media interest, which makes it very
appealing to us. We will continue to develop close relationships between our markets and the sponsorship and to explore the programme further. We are lucky to work globally with an ambassador like Alex.”

The seven year partnership stands as one of the longest within the IMOCA class and the teams says it has exceeded expectations in terms of media return for HUGO BOSS.

Alex said:

“I am delighted HUGO BOSS are retaining title sponsorship of the project, it has been a great partnership and I know there is still so much we can do. I will announce a full programme of events for the team soon. A brand like HUGO BOSS brings a new level of glamour to the sport, it is exciting to work with such an innovative and distinctive company. I am proud to have a reliable and successful partner onboard especially in tough times like these where sponsorship of such a scale is difficult to find. I would like to thank HUGO BOSS for their continued support and I am looking forward to exciting years ahead.”

The new deal means that Alex Thomson is able to commit to the next Barcelona World Race and the next Vendee Globe. In the meantime, as well as the current TJV, Hugo Boss will focus on creative cross promotion ideas, which have in the past seen a huge return.

Hugo Boss will also continue to leverage their other sponsorships. The brand has achieved huge exposure from cross-over promotions involving Formula 1 World Champion Lewis Hamilton and international golfer Oliver Wilson.