It’s just one month to go until the leaders and decision makers of the sport of Yacht Racing gather in Estoril for the 3rd World Yacht Racing Forum (WYRF).

The only event of its kind in the industry will see 40 top level speakers address issues affecting rights owners, professional sailors, host cities and ports and sailing sponsors. Representatives from all formats and events including the Volvo Ocean Race, America’s Cup and World Match Racing Tour will be present to talk about the professional side of yacht racing.

Organisers have made some changes in 2010, taking feedback from previous events which recommended the sessions be more interactive. Themes include building value in the sport of sailing from a commercial perspective, learning from other sports, developing new media technology, and debating ways to promote the sport.

This year, the Forum is also pleased to invite a number of speakers and panellists from outside the sport to share their views on how sailing and yacht racing can learn from other sports. The event introduces some new topics such as sustainability and respect of the environment, brand management and sailing’s future in the Olympic Games. The conference will close with the traditional and exclusive America’s Cup session, giving the audience the opportunity to learn more about the 34th America’s Cup from a commercial standpoint and the opportunities it will provide.

The Forum will once again be held alongside the Yacht Racing Design & Technology Symposium, dedicated to professional designers, builders and suppliers of racing yachts, as well as the International Superyachts Coatings Conference.

Like many conference events, there is some great content and learning to be had from the presentations, but the real value and the real deals are done outside of the auditorium. The World Yacht Racing Forum gives delegates unparalleled access to all of the key people in the sport of sailing in one place. From Knut Frostad, the CEO of the Volvo Ocean Race to Mark Turner, Chairman of OC Thirdpole as well as providers of services from sailing hardware to sailing media technology.

Editor of Yachtsponsorship.com, one of the World Yacht Racing Forum’s media partners said:

I believe, like many others, that getting everyone together in the same room can only help the sport move forwards. Most of the time, rights owners are stuck in their particular silos without thinking of the impact of their decisions on the sport as a whole. The savvy operators should realise that a sailing event with a different format is not the competition – the competition is any activity that people devote attention to, whether it be watching motorsport on television or playing golf or taking the kids to a theme park. Take the ‘Wizarding World of Harry Potter’ at Universal Orlando for example. Most sailing promoters wouldn’t see this as competition, but of course it is.

Register for the World Yacht Racing Forum 2010.

The America’s Cup is back in America. Celebrations over the weekend marked the arrival of the Auld Mug via a first class seat and the lobbying for host city began.

BMW ORACLE boss Larry Ellison gave an interview to ABC that touched on some of the issues that will define AC 34 including the venue and what kind of boats might be used.

The interview reveals that if the America’s Cup community agree, then the format of the next event might be skewed towards being more commercial, more spectator friendly and less traditional. Ellison says he will consult with sponsors on some of the decisions, which will include where the racing will take place.

Perhaps BMW ORACLE have media figures that we haven’t seen. Ellison says that young people want to see extreme racing and that a lot of people enjoyed watching the event in Valencia because of the radical nature of the boats. It’s not like fans were ever given a choice of what boats they wanted to watch, and a lot more people watched AC 32 than tuned into the monster trimarans. While most would argue that professional yacht racing needs to provide compelling products, the (non New York Court) jury is still out as to whether the America’s Cup is the right platform to deliver that product.

The interview also talks about budgets, with Ellison throwing out a number of $2-3-4 million for a campaign in AC34.

See the complete interview here….

Nobody would call the road to the 33rd America’s Cup conventional. The on again, off again nature of the process has meant that there have been question marks hanging over dates, venues and other key factors effecting the positioning of sponsorship for the event. However, as many who work in sponsorship know, some of the best deals to be had are those that can be done at the last minute.

The Mayoress of Valencia, Rita Barberá has introduced the official sponsors for this version of the Amercia’s Cup. El Corte Ingles, Estrella Damm, Iberdrola of Spain are joined by the Swiss company Hublot.

Now that it has been announced that the event will be broadcast live via the internet and picked up by broadcasters like Eurosport, the 33rd America’s Cup has more chance of delivering a return on investment via using the traditional measure of media value. Estrella Damm also have the added benefit of being able to sell a consumable product, so any media value is a bonus to the revenue acheived from pouring rights at the event.

Rita Barberá said she considered the deal a great example of the collaboration of Spanish business with Valencia and with the sport:

“Sponsors are a crucial part of the 33rd America’s Cup. I would like to extend our thanks in the name of all Valencians to Hublot, El Corte Inglés, Estrella Damm, Iberdrola and all the other sponsors and supporters of this project.”

Each of the companies have different reasons for supporting the event, but as well as the generic themes that apply to all top level sport like competition, the sponsors talked about some of the positioning benefits that sailing provides.

Pau Pérez Rico, from El Corte Inglés, commented:

“For El Corte Inglés it is very satisfying to share with Valencia, one more time, all the emotion and appeal of the top sailing competition, which represents all the values of effort, control of the elements and respect for the sea and the environment. It makes sense that El Corte Ingles repeats their support of the America’s Cup. I would like to wish both teams and the sailors, bon vent i bona vela –good winds and good sailing.”

Estrella Damm’s Federico Segarra said:

“This sponsorship is a good example of the commitment of Estrella Damm to the city of Valencia and with the sport. The America’s Cup is a very important event for the company, as we hold good memories from our participation at the previous edition.”

Iberdrola’s Juan Bolinches, took the opportunity to comment:

“By participating as sponsors of the event, the Iberdrola Group reasserts our commitment to the Comunidad Valenciana, where we have our Iberdrola Renovables head office and the Iberdrola Team base. I would like to mention that our base at the Port America’s Cup will be open to the visit of school kids and guests, to follow the race and discover this passionate sport.

More America’s Cup News

The Louis Vuitton Trophy in Nice is a relatively risky undertaking, even with the backing of the long time America’s Cup luxury goods sponsor (sorry – partner) and Bruno Troublé. The event was hastily arranged and the Nice was not the first choice for the November date.

Troublé has spoken about how the new event came to be on the Côte d’Azur and where we might see the Louis Vuitton Trophy next.

“We were supposed to go to Hong Kong in November but because there was only one place to go in Hong Kong, and the pier there was not finished, we had to cancel Hong Kong in June. We were willing to have an event in November, so we managed to convince Nice very very quickly.”

“At the end of the season there are not many places in Europe where you can sail: Marseilles, for example, is a great venue, but the wind is blowing 40 knots every day. Nice is also a very dynamic city. The Mayor is also the Minister of Industry, so he has a lot of power and he managed to make a decision in a week, whereas normally with public support like that takes months. So he is so powerful he has no problem to make a decision and then make it happen.”

The Louis Vuitton Trophy has improved upon the mecahnisms available to teams to promote their sponsors. One of the reasons for the event was to try and salvage some media value for partners who have been denied an America’s Cup appearance thanks to the squabbling between Alinghi and BMW ORACLE.

Troublé is proud of the technique they have introduced allowing teams to show their own branding on board. Each team purchases their own genniker from the organisers, while at the beginning of each day team a large patch with the team branding and logo is velcroed on to the mainsail in reverse order that the teams will be sailing a particular boat. When teams swap boats the outgoing team simply peels off their mainsail branding cleverly revealing the branding of the incoming team.

Louis Vuitton Trophy regattas in 2010 are planned for – Auckland in March, La Maddelena, Sardinia in May-June, Newport, RI in August and Hong Kong in November.

With the legal proceedings coming to an end, BMW ORACLE have held an event for sponsors which the press release describes as the “first official presentation of the team.” For readers of this site, there was no real news – the biggest story of the day was that BMW ORACLE have confirmed that Australian James Spithill will helm the trimaran USA for the Deed of Grudge Match in February.

From an outsider’s point of view, it was a typically corporate kind of show. Although the public had been invited, they were excluded from the event itself but according to the PR people – “The public enjoyed the show from the adjacent public area behind the Convention Center.” Sentiment monitoring of Twitter shows some dissent from that view, so perhaps there was a miscommunication about what the event was all about and who it was for.

Several of the VIP Guests sent a Twitpic or two and one uploaded a video to YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Ub2fDmHaws – otherwise, the press swallowed the headline about the helmsman.

Journalists had the opportunity to ask questions during part of the event – the video of that is below…

There’s also a catchy little happy smiley vid on the BMW ORACLE Racing website. - kids jumping on the trampoline etc, (we’d share it here, but there is no embed code available).

So as we said yesterday – the battle for hearts and minds is on. Arguably it is more important for BMW ORACLE as the perception of their sponsors’ brands are at stake, but both sides will be trying to use whatever communications tricks they have to build up to February.

Russell Coutts and the RC 44 Class Association are keeping it in the family with the announcement of Oracle as partner alongside DHL, BMW and SLAM. As the America’s Cup remains stalled in the New York court’s, the sponsors of the American syndicate are attaching themselves to other series where the team competes.

Class Manager Bertrand Favre said:

‘We are very pleased to welcome Oracle as a partner of the Class alongside our logistics supplier DHL, BMW and SLAM’. The support of these prestigious brands is a fantastic boost and a testimony to the quality of our work over the past years.’

RC44′s other major sponsor, DHL, is going for a green message.

Wolfgang Giehl, Senior Vice President Corporate Branding & Advertising for Deutsche Post DHL said:

‘Now we are particularly delighted to announce that commencing in 2009, DHL will ensure that the transportation is carbon-efficient, in line with the sport of sailing itself, by reducing the footprint of the tour and offsetting unavoidable carbon dioxide emission for transportation. It’s a positive and tangible demonstration of Deutsche Post DHL’s commitment to lean-carbon logistics and minimizing our impact on the environment.’

While the sport of sailing itself is powered by the wind and therefore more environmentally friendly than motorsport or P1 powerboats, the sport in general has a long way to go to being green. While the boats might be transported as efficiently as possible (excluding sailing them from venue to venue, which would be greener, but impractical), the teams still fly hundreds of thousands of airmiles during a campaign.

Russell Coutts:

‘The concept of the circuit, which mixes amateurs and owner drivers with professional sailors, works well. The professional race management is also a huge asset of this Class. Finally, the strict one-design characteristics of the RC 44′s and the ability to transport the boats on containers reduce the costs significantly for all the teams.’

Thanks to its unique transportation system, and to the logistical support of DHL, the RC 44 Class claims to be one of the most cost effective top level international sailing Classes.

We’ll be comparing costs of top classes in a coming feature. The results might surprise you. Stay tuned.

Sarah Ayton and Pippa Wilson – two of Great Britain’s Beijing gold medal-winning Yngling crew – will campaign together in the two-person 470 class in a bid to win gold on home waters in 2012.
The 28-year-old Sarah Ayton and Pippa Wilson, 23, have today announced their intention to campaign towards a home Olympics in the women’s double-handed class following the removal of the Yngling from the 2012 events line-up last year.

For WILSON, it’s a familiar step as she was previously a successful 470 helm for Skandia Team GBR – finishing seventh at the 470 World Championship in 2005 – before making the jump to join AYTON and Sarah WEBB as Yngling bowgirl in 2006.

“When Pippa joined us in the Yngling, I knew she was an amazing talent,” AYTON explained. “Her feel for the boat and tactical knowledge was a cut above the rest and I’m excited to be campaigning with her again for 2012 in a boat she already knows so well.”

AYTON and WILSON say the decision was ultimately an easy one, both in choosing to sail with one another and in sticking to their strengths in a fleet racing discipline, rather than opting to try the match racing format which was chosen in favour of the Yngling for the women’s keelboat event.

“Winning gold together is what gets us out of bed in the morning,” said WILSON. “We love our sport and can’t wait to transfer our winning formula into the 470 class.”

AYTON continued: “We hope to continue working with our coach Paul BROTHERTON, as he was such a vital member of our team during the last cycle.

“Without him on board, it could have been a very different story for the ‘three blondes in a boat’, so for this to happen and for us to put a program together which gives us the best chance of winning, we need to raise money so are welcoming sponsors to join us in our quest for gold.”

Earlier this month 30 skippers started the gruelling Vendee Globe. Teams with budgets of several million, state of the art carbon fibre yachts with sophisticated auto-pilots painted in the livery of brands like Aviva, Hugo Boss, Artemis and Ecover. But as we reported, the start barely made the sports section of the papers in the UK. This Sunday, the front page of the Sunday Times featured a photo of Michael Perham, a 16 year old who is attempting a circumnavigation. 

The estimated cost of the venture is £200,000. The return on investment for sponsors like Totally Money is already plainly visable in terms of media coverage. But is this about sailing. Is this about sport? Or is this is about human interest – the slightly side show freak element of headlines – the youngest, the biggest, the smallest, the poorest, the underdog. 

Perhaps in the end, the motives of the media don’t matter and the profile of sailing is increased and the value of sponsoring sailing projects validated. The companies who have backed Michael have got a great deal. They have invested a fraction of the cost of a Vendee Globe or Volvo Ocean Race project and are already seeing the results. Michael’s sponsors are listed on his website.

BMW Oracle and the GGYC are working furiously to manage the PR around the 33rd Edition of the Americas Cup following the momentum generated by challenger meetings.

In recent days, spokesman Tom Ehman has painstakingly outlined his position and reasons why he thinks there is still underlying unfairness in the defender Alinghi’s position. In this article: America’s Cup Proves to be a Stubborn beast. he sets out rational arguments, which makes you wonder why it hasn’t been done before. Articulated or reported!

In an attempt to influence the agenda of future meetings, BMW Oracle Racing have released to Sail-World the previously confidential ten points of issue and their solutions which would see the current legal action dropped and the multi-challenger America’s Cup event sailed in 2010. It’s a smart move, but while some are seemingly ‘no-brainers’ others may force Alinghi to make concessions. 

With the exception of point 10, BMW Oracle Racing note that they are based on the points negotiated with the other Challengers in December last year, and reflect further concessions since offered….

1. Once the changes to the Applicable Rules are completed as per this letter, any further changes to Applicable Rules governing AC33 shall be mutually agreed between Defender and the Challenger of Record (subject to the next point).
2. All Challenger of Record decisions, including agreeing the ACC Rules, Event and Competition Regulations, shall be made by majority vote of the Challengers in a Challenger Commission, one vote per team, including the COR who also has one vote, except that material amendments to the Protocol, Event Regulations or Competition Regulations, once agreed and issued, can be made only by unanimous vote of Competitors.
3. The current Arbitration Panel shall be dissolved and a new Arbitration Panel shall be appointed comprised of five members; SNG and the Challenger Commission shall each appoint two members, and the other four shall select the fifth member.
4. The Defender can race in the Challenger Round Robins, Challenger Sail-Off and Challenger Secondary Series. The Defender cannot sail in the Challenger Semi Finals and Final. Larry’s letter of 17 October 2008 to Ernesto offered several options in this regard, which we stand by.
5. The ‘Fair Competition’ clause (2.3 of the Protocol) shall be expanded to include the Officials, Sailing Jury and Arbitration Panel.
6. The Defender and Challenger of Record shall jointly appoint a Regatta Director who shall be responsible for ensuring fair races are conducted in accordance with the terms of the Protocol. The Regatta Director shall have the same powers as for the last America’s Cup (he or she appoints/manages race committee, appoints measurement committee, umpires, and other officials as needed, prepares and publishes Notice of Race and Sailing Instructions).
7. Entries from AC32 challengers shall be accepted and not thereafter disqualified provided continued compliance with the rules, and then only by the Arbitration Panel.
8. AC33 shall be held in Valencia with AC32 teams retaining their bases if they desire. In addition, the format and Schedule to be published by ACM ahead of time and not to be altered without consent of affected Competitors.
9. Each Challenger and the Defender may be limited to building only one new boat. As a result of this change, and as consideration for allowing the Defender into the Challenger selection series, there can be no Defender selection series.
10. There shall be no restrictions on Competitors’ sponsors nor any control by the Defender or ACM over Competitors’ sponsors beyond the traditional restrictions (e.g.,no tobacco). Moreover, ACM shall not ambush existing team sponsors, and if ACM secures an Event sponsor that conflicts with a major sponsor of a Competitor, that Competitor shall be under no obligation to display ACM sponsor logos on its yacht, base or team gear or otherwise promote or associate with such Event sponsor.

Ernesto Bertarelli, Boss of the Defending Americas Cup Syndicate has spoken about the need to reduce budgets for the 33rd Edition of the Americas Cup. 

Quoted in Bloomberg, Bertarelli talked about Americas Cup teams reducing their budgets by 80% enabling them to compete for 10 to 20 million euros instead of 100 million as some teams had in the past. 

The measures would require teams only building one boat, which Bertarelli says will be 10ft shorter than the proposed 90 foot version currently on the table. Ehough Alinghi have said that the choice of boat will be determined through talks with competing teams, they oviously have something in mind. The plan would be for the boats to be used in other competitions besides the Americas Cup, increasing return on investment. 

The full article can be read at: http://www.bloomberg.com