Audi Med Cup Confirms 2010 Calendar with Barcelona and Cascais.

Now that some of the uncertainty around the America’s Cup has been replaced by a different type of uncertainty, the professionals have to amuse themselves somehow for the 2010 season. Two contenders for AC34, TEAMORIGIN and Emirates Team NZ will be going head to head in the Audi Med Cup along with several other teams with America’s Cup talent.

The Audi Med Cup series has managed to establish itself as one of the most recognisable and prestigious annual series in professional yacht racing. The series attracts the world’s best sailors and has stayed true to it’s concept, not over-reaching with events in new markets. The TP52 has shown to be a boat that can be adapted to suit the competitive nature of owners and in the absence of an AC34 rule, provides teams with a training platform to keep teams at the top of their game.

Audi MedCup organisers have announced that two of Europe’s most desirable cities, Barcelona and Cascais/Lisbon, have now been confirmed as venues for the 2010 calendar.

Nacho Postigo, Technical Manager of the Circuit said:

“ It’s realising a dream for us in many ways. We have been wanting to go to Barcelona for a long time. In sailing it is one of the most renowned Spanish venues for every sailor, and also to Cascais, where strong wind should be assured”

Cascais, in May

The Audi MedCup Circuit 2010 schedule opens with an entirely new venue. The year’s first event will take place between the 11 and the 16 of May in Cascais, Portugal.

Few cities in Europe can offer the weather conditions which the Portuguese city enjoys in spring and summer.. The reputation for strong, consistent winds was apparent when the city hosted the 2007 ISAF World Sailing Championships, and the venue is open to the Atlantic which should ensure big swells.

It could be the Estoril Circuit of sailing, potentially one of the most exciting regattas of the season, a great curtain raiser, which would have a good chance to provide images reminiscent of the ones which emerged from the big days off Cartagena, where the boats surfed spectacularly on, and through, lumpy swells several metres high.

Barcelona, in July

Barcelona will host the third event of the 2010 Audi MedCup Circuit between the 20th and the 25th of July. At this time the Catalan capital city enjoys great thermal winds of the southwest, known as Garbí.

As well as the pleasant summer weather conditions, Barcelona is the perfect showcase for the Circuit, richly endowed with the experience and infrastructure of a city which holds many sailing competitions in Spain including the 1992 Olympic Sailing Regatta. The 2010 Audi MedCup Circuit event benefits from the full participation of the city hall in the organization of the events which will ensure a lively public village while the races take place on the water. And of course as a backdrop, the major European city needs no introduction as a cultural, architectural, culinary and nightlife capital that few can rival.

Audi MedCup Circuit’s Schedule 2010:

• Event 1: Cascais (Portugal), 11th to 16th of May
• Event 2: Marseille (France), 15th to 20th of June
• Event 3: Barcelona (Spain), 20th to 25th of July
• Event 4: Cartagena (Spain), 24th to 29th of August
• Event 5: Cagliari (Italy), 20th to 25th of September

Emirates Team NZ Drop Volvo Ocean Race Plans in Hope of New Cup Attempt.

Emirates Team New Zealand boss, Grant Dalton has told NZ Media that the team will not compete in the next Volvo Ocean Race. While race organisers have said that stopovers will not necessarily be tied to competing teams, the news probably means that Auckland will not be a stopover for the next edition of the round the world race.

The Volvo Ocean Race had been seen as a platform to deliver value to the Emirates, the team’s long time sponsor in the absence of a recognisable America’s Cup campaign.  According to the most recent news,  the Volvo race has been ditched for two reasons: it was proving too expensive and was superfluous to the team’s needs. Emirates Team NZ are committed to a TP52 campaign in the Audi Med Cup and the new Louis Vuitton Trophy.

Dalton hopes that with the DOG Match now happening in Valencia, the future of Emirates Team NZ in the America’s Cup will be more certain, once a winner is determined. Notwithstanding more court cases and the lack of wind in Spain, Grant Dalton is hoping to move on. He said:

‘I don’t for a minute discount the possibility of more delays but there’s now, for the first time in a long time, light at the end of the tunnel. ‘There’s a future for the team beckoning within days really. we are still here’ and ‘ready to race again’ once ‘there’s certainty in the future of the event’.

‘Above all else that is what we want, certainty. The best result for us is for the winner [of the deed-of-gift match] to announce a Challenger of Record and say the defender will enter into dialogue with the challengers. That’s about the best result we can hope for.’

‘My focus needs to now turn to raising money and getting the team back together again. My heart is still in a Volvo but it would have been a massive distraction and the board felt we needed to change course.

Cayard and Hutchinson Join Team Artemis for Louis Vuitton Trophy.

If you haven’t made up your mind who you are going to support in the upcoming Louis Vuitton Trophy, then here is a suggestion. Why not back Torbjorn Tornqvist’s team Artemis (SWE)? The team, which has competed in the TP52 World’s and the RC44 circuit includes some big names including some American stars.

Torbjorn Tornqvist, founder and CEO said:

“We’ve built a solid team and have enjoyed racing in the TP52 and RC44 classes to date. We are now looking forward to the Louis Vuitton Trophy – it is an excellent opportunity for Artemis to compete against the world’s best sailing teams.”

The team for the Louis Vuitton Trophy will include, Paul Cayard (USA) and Team Manager Jared Henderson (NZL), Terry Hutchinson and Morgan Larson (USA) who have joined Artemis as helmsman and tactician respectively.

Cayard said:

“Artemis has been on a continuous path of growth in the sport of sailing over the past four years. The Louis Vuitton Trophy is a new challenge for our team. We have a lot of respect for all the teams that we will face in Nice and look forward to the opportunity to race against them.”

Representing the Royal Swedish Yacht Club the Artemis crew for the Louis Vuitton Trophy in Nice includes: Paul Cayard (skipper/ strategist), Jared Henderson (team manager/pit), Terry Hutchinson (helmsman), Morgan Larson (tactician), Andy Fethers (bow), Phil Jameson (mid bow), David Brooke (mast), Craig Monk (grinder), Matthew Welling (grinder), Robbie Naismith (trimmer), Morgan Trubovich (trimmer), Ian Baker (grinder), Marco Constant (trimmer), Sean Clarkson (traveler), Kevin Hall (navigator), Magnus Augustson (grinder) and Rodney Daniel (runners).

You can follow Artemis Racing on Twitter…

Adidas Backs New-Look Sailing ‘Super-Team’ All4One.

In September, K-Challenge, the America’s Cup campaign run by Stephan Kandler announced that it would be reinventing itself by partnering with Jochen Schümann. Today in Paris at a press conference, the team has been presented with a new name – ALL4ONE.

The new ’super-team’ continues the recent trend of a team becoming a platform for its partners and sponsors across several events – maximising returns while sharing costs. The team plans to compete in the Louis Vuitton Trophy as well as the World Match Racing Tour. They will also campaign an RC44 and a TP52.

The German connection also brings a new partner to the team. Sportswear giant Adidas has been announced as a sponsor of the new look team today.

For those who know their sports business, the arrival of Adidas into sailing is not a big surprise. The company’s rivalry with Puma dates back to when two brothers from the same family founded the competing companies in 1948. Since Puma’s high profile launch into sailing with the last Volvo Ocean Race, it was perhaps only a matter of time before we saw Adidas enter the market.

Stephane Kandler, K-Challenge’s CEO :

“This is an important step in our history after 20 years of investment and involvement in sailing first through K-Yachting our charter company created in 1989 and then K-Challenge who has participated in the last America’s Cup. With our assets from the last America’s Cup, our common experience and all the other people working with us (like the French Sailing Federation, FFV), ALL4ONE is a trustful and powerful platform offering new opportunities for sponsors in our sport. And we are proud that our historical partners Canal+ and Saint Honoré watches are now joined by adidas, which is one of the biggest brands in sport.”

Jochen Schümann, Skipper and Sport Director :

“ALL4ONE will build a new sailing team platform based on inspiration, respect, innovation and performance.

We have set our priorities on four international sailing circuits – Louis Vuitton Trophy, TP52, RC44, World Match Racing Tour – around which we build our team, perform against best sailors of the world and be present for our partners and visible for public all year around.

ALL4ONE is very proud to announce that adidas has already joined the team as Official Supplier. Hermann Deininger, CMO, adidas Sport Style Division says:

“Jochen Schümann, is a world class sailor who has been part of the adidas family for the past 30 years. He works closely with us providing significant support, testimonials and advice to test and develop our perfectly crafted adidas Porsche Design Sport sailing range. We are extremely proud & grateful to have him share his and his team’s sailing expertise, allowing us to continuously perfect our sailing specific products.”

Visit our website : www.all4onechallenge.com

The Audi Med Cup Could Be Yours For Just €1.78m

The Audi Med Cup is one of the more commercialized racing series out there and as such is concious of budgets for teams and return on investment for sponsors. The event has announced a series of changes for 2010 aimed at achieving those aims and they estimate that the annual budget for a TP52 campaign with a chance of winning the title will be around €1.78m.

The Audi Med Cup have also borrowed a trick from the iShares Cup playbook and will offer the chance for VIP guests to sail aboard the boats during racing. The series says:

In order to enhance the commercial return to sponsors or to offer owners and crews the chance to take their private guests out racing, there will now be one guest spot on board the TP52 Series and the GP42 Series boats in each race of each regatta. The guests will effectively be right in the middle of the action, each and every race. Crews may choose to change guests each race if they wish, but the clear requirement is that they can have no influence on the performance of the boats, keeping their legs and torso inside, sailing towards the back of the boat.

The budget cuts will come from a series of measures that shouldn’t have any effect on the quality of the racing or the spectacle. They include:

• The weight limit for ‘active’ TP52 crew has been reduced to 1050kgs, down from 1273kgs this season. The savings are estimated to be €30-50,000 per season.
• The number and type of sails has been reduced again for the 2010 season. Expensive masthead Code Zero type headsails will not be allowed. Only 15 sails can be measured in for the season (against the 19 + 3 allowed in 2009), and only four jibs and four spinnakers can be carried on board. Exotic, costly materials have been outlawed for spinnakers which can now only be manufactured in woven polyester or nylon.
• Practise Days will be reduced.

The series have estimated guideline budgets, which represent, typically, both ends of the spectrum, to campaign a GP42 or a TP52

• The budget range for a GP42 is between €467,000 for a charter program covering all five regattas to about €992,000 for a full new build winning boat program, based on selling the boat at season’s end.
• For the TP52 the entry level program is reckoned on being around €800,300 for the season or €1.78m to achieve a potentially winning program based on a new build boat which is sold at season’s end.

Considering there is almost a million bucks difference between the low and high budget for a TP52, does spending the extra money make all the difference? Afonso Domingos (POR) skipper of Bigamist 7 :

” There has been no comparison between our budget and that of other teams. But we have proved certainly this season that even with a small investment it is possible to win races and to be challenging regularly for first place. This was the season where we did spend a little more, with a new boat (to us, the former Platoon), some new sails and some more professional sailors, but that has led to fifth overall and eight race wins over the season (second to Emirates Team New Zealand in victories in the TP52 fleet).”

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