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Pure Michigan, a function of the Michigan Economic Development Commission, provided the title sponsorship for the 2009 race. It’s back this year, and talking about extending it beyond 2011. George Zimmermann, Vice President of Travel Michigan, the marketing unit of the commission said to The Detroit News:

“It’s a good sponsorship for us, for a variety of reasons.”

Pure Michigan became the most-visited state tourism site in 2009, largely because of the race. Some two million hits occurred when spectators logged on to michigan.org/gps to follow progress of the race, including individual boats on both routes. The service is available again this year.

The cost of staging the event is estimated at $USD 500,000, making sponsorship crucial to the race’s success.

Last year there were 18 sponsors. This year there are 24, including some who have returned, like DTE Energy, Veuve Clicquot and Bacardi, which is back for the first time in five years. Bruce Babiarz, of BAB Associates LLC says:

“It’s been a great year, and there’s already a great deal of interest for next year. We’re at the best sponsorship level in five years. Bell’s Beer signed up right after last year, and Pure Michigan has a multi-year renewal option. It’s a fanatical tradition that has never been halted since its introduction in 1925. It’s a good fan base not only statewide and regionally, but in other parts of the world.

More USA Yacht Racing News…

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Martin Hill is CEO of Estate Master and one of the greatest Belcher & Page London Challenge 2012 supporters. Malcolm Page is the logistics manager and trimmer for Estate Master’s flagship marketing vehicle, its Farr 40 team. Both teams compete in Asia, the Middle East, Australia and Europe where over 1,300 companies use Estate Master’s real estate valuation software. The teams also compete in North America, which is an expansion market for Estate Master.

It’s no coincidence that the company uses sailing as a marketing platform. A passionate sailor, Hill, is theEstate Master Farr 40 team’s skipper and he and Page won a gold medal in the Tasar at the 2009 Master Games in Sydney. Page rates the win right up there with his other medals. “Martin spent two months training in the boat, and we sailed a textbook style regatta. It was a credit toMartin to show his skills and commitment in an unfamiliar environmentand a perfect example of the business innovation and skills that he uses everyday.”

Says Hill of the Tasar experience; “The old man’s gold medal is definitely a highlight for me as it shows our quickness to take on challenge, our preparation effort (both in Malcolm’s research, preparation and fine tuning of the boat), our training and our attitude in the regatta. Mal’s philosophy all along was, ‘Let us just sail our race and do our best.’ I didn’t even know wehad won the gold medal when we crossed the line.”

Page has been working with Hill and Estate Master for 5 years. “I’m extremely fortunate to have such an understanding employer,” says Page. “As you can imagine, training and competing at this level in the 470 Class is time consuming and keeps me away from home and out of the office for extended periods of time, especially as the Olympics draws near. Martin (Hill) understands and is as flexible as Gumby when it comes to preparing for the Olympic regatta. He is one of the first to say that to be competitive in sailing you need the backing of a team. All of the sailors on his team are grateful for his support, friendship and dedication to the sport. He is a great mentor.”

Page manages the team logistics from a mobile phone and his laptop when he is home in Australia or traveling. There have been times when major Farr 40 regattas overlap with 470 regattas, as was the case with this year’s Farr 40 Word Championship in Caso de Campo, Dominican Republic. It was early enough in the quadrennium that Page raced with the Estate Master Farr 40 team while Australian 470 training partner, Will Ryan, substituted for him in the 470. Belcher and Ryan won Semaine Olympique Francaise, one of the ISAF World Cup regattas.

While Hill and Estate Master understand and tolerate flexible schedules, they demand dedication, preparation and application of science from the sailing team and in the powerful and easy to use property software solutions for property acquisition,disposition, development, management, appraisal and valuation that theyhave developed. Estate Master and its sailing team are leaders in their fields and play a significant role in showcasing Australia’s sailing talent on a world stage.

More Olympic Sailing News…

In a very unscientific poll down the pub, we asked a couple of sailing fans to think about the top (commercial) sailing events in the world – almost all mentioned the Volvo Ocean Race, several mentioned the World Match Racing Tour, the Audi Med Cup, the Extreme Sailing Series (previously – and still known as the iShares Cup), and a couple mentioned the Louis Vuitton Trophy – though it was described as “that thing where they race old America’s Cup boats”.

When prompted about the RC 44 Championship Tour, the reaction was: “Oh yeah – I always forget about that.”

Perhaps it is because the Class sits somewhere between amateur and professional and is aimed at boat owners rather than spectators, that the awareness is not higher, but given the names of the sailors on board the boats, the RC44 really should have more recognition.

To date, 22 RC44 One Design boats have been built. The Class has announced that two new boats will be constructed as the Class grows on the back of news that events will be held in the USA.

Certainly there is scope for more sailing circuits in the USA. In the country where NASCAR puts on a travelling show almost every week of the year, it’s a little surprising that no-one has managed to create a series using the 18 Foot Skiff or Extreme 40 or some other boat as a platform for a professional tour.

Will the RC44 Class be able to manage it? A project to expand to North America is underway. The first regatta on US soil, the Oracle RC 44 Cup Miami, will take place on December 7 – 12 in South Beach Marina.

RC 44 founder and co-designer Russell Coutts says:

“I really look forward to competing in Miami. First of all because it is a beautiful sailing venue, but also because it is a symbolic step for the RC 44 Class as it will be the first time we race on American territory. Our goal is to develop a parallel circuit in the USA, and to see the European and American fleets meeting during several events, including the yearly World Championship.”

Following the Oracle RC 44 Cup Miami, the first regatta of the Championship Tour 2011 will also take place in the United Sates (west coast) whilst other regattas will be organised on American waters in the coming years.

The American events are important. Notably missing from the World Match Racing Tour, the USA is a massive market that is not well served by sailing as a professional sport.

The RC 44 Class has also announced that its historical partnership with SLAM has been extended until 2012. SLAM is the RC 44 Class’ official clothing supplier; it provides the Class management, umpires, race officials and guests with technical clothes that are particularly well adapted to their work.

More RC44 News…

Volvo will serve as the title sponsor of the Indian International Regatta 2010, having previously served as the event’s exclusive corporate sponsor. Financial terms were not released, however, it is expected to be on similar terms as the two organisations previous agreement, which Sports Pro Magazine estimates at $USD 100,000 per year for 3 years.

Managing director of Volvo Buses, Akash Passey, said,

“We are very proud of our sponsorship of the India International Regatta. Volvo is associated with sponsorship of major sailing championships and connected with loyal and dedicated sailing fans around the world, and as the title sponsor of the ‘India International Regatta,’ we have the honour of extending our relationship with sailors in India too.”

Volvo Penta, Head, S Prabhakaran said:

‘Volvo Penta is committed to promoting the need to preserve and conserve our environment, and sailing is just that sport which connects people to these elements of nature. With the growing popularity of the sport in India, the children are ideal ambassadors for us to help make the change.’

AS Bajwa, Yachting Association of India treasurer, said,

“It is a major step forward in expanding our vision of putting India as the global sailing destination and by tying up with Volvo, the brand leader of sailing races worldwide, it is bound to add tremendous value.”

The regatta to be sailed off Chennai during 03 -10 Oct 2010 is expected to see sailors from Singapore, Qatar, UAE, Bahrain, Turkey, Thailand, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Sri Lanka, South Africa and Kenya who have evinced keen interest in participating in this year’s event.

The sport of sailing in India is growing fast. As well as increasing participants, India is becoming one of the largest TV markets for sailing content.

More Volvo Sailing News…