Month: February 2013

WHERE DOES THAT LEAVE SAN FRANCISCO?

UPDATE 2-Puma abandons sailing for running as profit sinks

FRANKFURT, Feb 14 (Reuters) – Sportswear firm Puma said it is pulling out of the sailing market to concentrate on other sports such as soccer and running to rebuild its flagging business, leaving an Americas Cup team seeking a new sponsor.

The German company, which on Thursday reported a 70 percent drop in its annual profit, is going through its biggest reorganisation in 20 years to restore the business and get its products back in fashion in the United States, Europe and China.

The group is closing stores, cutting product lines and last month said it would stop sponsoring rugby union football, no longer providing kit forIreland‘s team after the next season.

Outgoing chief executive Franz Koch, leaving as part of a management shake-up instigated by Puma’s 82 percent owner PPR , told journalists on Thursday it would take “some time” before the restructuring brought visible success.

Sales this year are expected to remain on a level with 2012’s total of 3.27 billion euros. Net earnings, which dropped to 70.2 million euros from 230 million in 2011, are expected to improve significantly this year, Koch said.

Earnings in the final quarter were hit by costs of 98 million euros related to a payout in Spain to reclaim trademark rights from a former licence holder and costs for closing its operations inGreece, Cyprus and Bulgaria. It will continue to distribute products to these countries.

The company also cut its dividend for 2012 to 0.5 euros from 2 euros last time.

Puma’s shares, which have lost 5 percent of their value over the last year, were up 1.2 percent at 234.4 euros by 1424 GMT. “Investors are hoping that Puma can get back to reaching new heights after the restructuring,” said one trader.

 

DROPPING THE OCEAN RACING

The company has already said it wants to focus more on soccer and running and will now stop sponsoring the Oracle sailing team, current holder of the Americas Cup, after the 2013 season. The team wear race gear supplied by Puma and the company’s jumping cat logo can be seen on the sails.

Puma had also entered a team twice in the Volvo Ocean Race, ending in third place in the final in July 2012, but will not be entering another team.

Brands pay upwards of 10 million euros ($13 million) a year to sponsor the major sailing teams, according to sports market research company Repucom.

Koch declined to provide figures, saying only it had invested a “significant amount”.

Repucom said the sport was interesting to higher-end premium brands like Prada because out of the 331 million sailing enthusiasts worldwide around 19 percent are reckoned to be high earners.

However, for the big sportswear brands like Puma, and larger rivals Nike and Adidas, soccer and basketball are much bigger money-spinners due to the sheer number of people following such sports worldwide.

 

BACK ON HIS FEET

Koch will leave the group at the end of March, after less than two years as chief executive, and a replacement will be announced in the coming weeks, the 33 year-old said on Thursday.

With a profit warning, tumbling sales and criticism from predecessor Jochen Zeitz, the former professional hockey player said it had been a tough year. “But like a true sportsman, I am used to getting back on my feet again,” he told reporters.

Until a new chief executive is installed Chief Financial Officer Michael Laemmermann and Chief Commercial Officer Stefano Caroti are to lead the company with support from PPR’s Jean-Francois Palus, who chairs the Puma supervisory board.

AN UNFINISHED STORY: THE BOUNTY

We have all been waiting to hear the truth of this remarkable tale. In an era of  unprecedented ability to forecast weather; it is hard to imagine that something like this could happen. There is a big difference between being caught at sea by foul weather that could not be avoided and making the conscious decision to leave port an sailing straight into a hurricane. Moreover, this was a boat that could not sail very fast and therefore had no way to avoid the storm. A Volvo 70 capable of 600 miles a day would have had a chance to sail around or at least avoid the worst; although we would still question the decision leaving the dock with the forecast.

 
Shipyard: Rotted Frame in Sunken Ship Not Fixed
By BROCK VERGAKIS
PORTSMOUTH, Va.
abcnews.go.com

 

ABC News

 

Maine shipyard official: Rotted frame in ship that sank in Sandy wasn’t fixed before storm

The Associated Press

A replica 18th-century sailing ship that sank off North Carolina during Hurricane Sandy had a decaying frame with an undetermined amount of rot in it before leaving port, a Maine shipyard worker told federal officials Wednesday.

One member of the HMS Bounty’s 16-person-crew died, and the captain was never found after the ship sank 90 miles off Cape Hatteras during the October storm. The three-mast sailing ship was built for the 1962 film “Mutiny on the Bounty” starring Marlon Brando, and was featured in several other films over the years, including one of the “Pirates of the Caribbean” movies.

Officials from the Coast Guard and the National Transportation Safety Board are holding eight days of hearings to determine what caused it to sink and make recommendations to prevent similar deaths.

Todd Kosakowski told the panel that he showed Capt. Robin Walbridge the rot he found in the ship when his workers were replacing several planks at Boothbay Harbor Shipyard several weeks before the storm.

“I told him that I was more than worried about what we found,” Kosakowski said.

Rather than replacing the rotted wood — as Kosakowski said was the only way to fix it — the ship’s crew painted it over, he said.

Walbridge was ‘terrified’ at what he saw, but he decided against removing additional planks to see how extensive the damage was and going ahead and replacing it, he said.

“It was very quickly shot down by the captain,” Kosakowski said. “That would have required a significant amount of time and money.”

Kosakowski said he was concerned about the ship’s condition when it left the shipyard and that he had advised Walbridge to avoid ‘heavy weather.’ The ship would later head directly for the path of the hurricane before taking on water, losing power and rolling over as it tossed the crew into the Atlantic Ocean.

After the ship left the Maine shipyard, it headed to New London, Connecticut. There, it provided a tour for Navy sailors stationed at a submarine base. HMS Bounty officials also met with a potential buyer for the ship before it started making its way to Florida and heading directly for the hurricane.

Before leaving Maine, Kosakowski said that Walbridge had told him that he had told the ship’s owner, Robert Hansen, that he should get rid of the boat as soon as possible.

Hansen has declined to testify at the hearings, invoking his Fifth Amendment right to be protected from incriminating himself.

Although the hearing being administered by the panel isn’t a criminal proceeding, any evidence of wrongdoing could be referred to federal prosecutors.

——

Brock Vergakis can be reached at www.twitter.com/BrockVergakis

RECYCLING, GREEN LIVING

These are photographs of a group who were living green long before it was fashionable. Recycling at a level that might have even qualified for LEED certification. They had a very small carbon footprint.

In other news are the Coast Guard hearings about the loss of the “Bounty” during hurricane Sandy.

Hearings continue on HMS Bounty investigation

Updated: Wednesday, 13 Feb 2013, 6:18 PM EST
Published : Tuesday, 12 Feb 2013, 9:49 AM EST

PORTSMOUTH, Va. (WAVY) – The U.S. Coast Guard will be holding several hearings into the sinking of the HMS Bounty, which went down off the coast of Cape Hatteras in October.

During the first hearing Tuesday, the owner of the HMS Bounty pled the fifth and would not testify.

Watch Live: HMS Bounty hearing

A formal investigation into the following items surrounding the sinking was conducted:

  • The cause of the accident
  • If there is evidence to suggest failure of material or equipment was involved to contribute to a death.
  • If there is evidence into any misconduct, inattention to duty, negligence or willful violation of the law by any certified or licensed person.
  • If there is evidence that any Coast Guard or other government agency personnel caused or contributed to a death.
  • If the accident should be further investigated by a Marine Board of Investigation.

The HMS Bounty sank after taking on water about 90 miles off the coast of Cape Hatteras, N.C. One crew member, Claudene Christian, died shortly after she and other crew members were rescued by the Coast Guard.

Captain Robin Walbridge, 63, is still missing though presumed dead.

In August, a special about the Bounty was produced in Belfast, Maine and aired on public access. In light of the ship’s sinking the video was edited. Watch the 30 minute video below.

$999.00

For $999, you can watch sailing, on public land

02.11.13 – 3:12 pm | Tim Redmond |

(5)

Did SF get kicked in the balls, or what?

 

Here’s the deal of a lifetime: For $999, you can get a ticket to watch the America’s Cup races. From beachers built on public land. Where the non-wealthy public won’t be allowed.

The America’s Cup Event Authority, run by Larry Ellison, who is the third-richest person in the world, has sent out an email soliciting buyers for this special early deal: Buy now, and you will be guaranteed a “reserved section in a preferred area of the bleachers,” as well as exclusive access to parties and events, and a chance to get your picture taken with the Cup.

Which, by the way, is having trouble raising money — and could leave the city on the hook for as much as $20 million. Which loudmouth critics like Aaron Peskin and Chris Daly warned about from the start. So we’ve gone from the races being a huge economic boon, worth billions to the city, to poor Mark Buell, who has to ask people to give money to underwrite Larry Ellison’s yacht party, saying that even if the city loses money, it will still all be worth it.

Those poor San Francisco plebians who don’t have $1,000 will be able to see the races, but Ellison’s team recommends spending the cash, now: “There will be a section of free-view bleachers,” the Event Authority’s Ryan Carroll told me. “But those seats will be limited, and we expect them to fill up quickly.”

And there may still be some cheaper seats coming; tickets for individual races will go on sale later, and seats at the prelims in June might not cost as much, Carroll said.

Other areas for public waterfront viewing “will be congested,” he said.

Jane Sullivan, marketing director for the America’s Cup Organizing Committee (which is the city’s operation, separate and distinct from Ellison’s), said it’s not neccessary to give Ellison a thousand bucks to see the sailboats whip by at 50 miles an hour: “The entire waterfront will not be filled up and congested,” she said. “There will be ample and lovely free viewing of all the races.”

So let me sum this up: The taxpayers spend $20 million underwriting Ellison’s race. Then Ellison’s team wants us to pay him $999 for the right to sit on a bench on public land and watch. Who does this gentleman think he is? (Oh right: He’s Larry Fucking Ellison.)

SAN FRANCISCO AND AMERICA’S CUP WOES

Stalled efforts to bring in big donors could put San Francisco taxpayers on the hook for upward of $20 million for the America’s Cup.

With the 55 days of steroidal sailing just six months away, fundraising efforts to cover the estimated $31 million to $34 million cost for police, cleanup, transportation and other expenses have pretty much hit the wall at $14 million.

Originally pitched as a competition between as many as 12 international teams, the race is now down to three entries. The shrinking size of the event has helped reduce costs, but it also substantially cut into corporate interest in sponsorships, which city officials originally thought would bring in $300 million.

Recreation and Park Commission President Mark Buell and his group have managed to raise $9 million from local donors and another $5 million from the race organizers in the form of a loan that may not have to be repaid.

Now those sources are about tapped out. So Mayor Ed Lee has personally taken up the drive to raise money.

“He’s optimistic that with a concerted effort, he can keep fundraising on par with expenses as they come in,” said Lee’s spokeswoman, Christine Falvey.

The mayor is also enlisting help from Sen. Dianne Feinstein, House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi and Board of Supervisors President David Chiu. In other words, everyone is on this and hoping it works out. But if it ends in a bailout, the feeling at City Hall seems to be that it’s worth it.

“Between the money that will come in from tourists and the crowds and the sales taxes it will generate,” Buell said, “I still think that, no matter what, it will come out a boon for the city.”

Still, time is short, money is tight – and those who have been working the phones tell us it’s not easy asking for money to help finance a yacht race being put on by Larry Ellison, one of the richest men in the world.

Texas treat: Publicly, Gov. Jerry Brown is calling Texas Gov. Rick Perry‘s three-day trip to try to lure California businesses to the Lone Star State “barely a fart.” But privately, he’s kind of happy about it – figuring the poaching threat plays right into his desire to streamline California’s environmental laws to make the state more business-friendly.

“The stage is set – he’s opened the umbrella wider than any other Democratic governor has ever done before,” said one key aide. “Now he’ll stand back and let the Legislature make their moves.”

Betting line: Now that San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee has announced he intends to appoint Supervisor Carmen Chu as city assessor, speculation is growing about her likely replacement in District Four.

The mayor said he plans to spend the next month hearing from the community and various political constituencies before announcing his pick, but we’re hearing he may be leaning toward Chu’s aide, Katy Tang. She is well-regarded in progressive circles and would have a strong chance of being re-elected in a district where Asian Americans make up the majority.

Another top contender is former prosecutor Suzy Loftus – who not only would be the lone white woman and mother on the board, but is seen as someone not afraid to speak her mind.

Burned: Peninsula school districts weren’t the only losers in a failed lawsuit against San Mateo County seeking to recover $20 million in lost Lehman Bros. investments – so were the county’s taxpayers.

A dozen school districts accused the late county Treasurer Lee Buffington of ignoring prudent investment standards by putting so much of their money into Lehman before the company’s 2008 collapse.

A three-judge state appeals court panel, however, ruled otherwise.

So now, in addition to the $20 million loss, taxpayers are on the hook for the county’s legal bills – which, as of Dec. 31, totaled $1.2 million to the high-powered San Francisco law firm Keker and Van Nest, which the county hired to fend off the school suit.

Keker was brought in because the county counsel’s office works for both the county and the school district.

“That was our point all along,” said winning lawyer Stuart Gasner of Keker’s firm – it “was a lot of robbing Peter to pay Paul. What a waste of time.”

By the way, there may be more legal bills.

Farley Neuman, the San Francisco attorney who filed the case on behalf of the schools – and who gets paid only if he wins – said he is still mulling an appeal to the state Supreme Court.

“In our view, there is an important public policy issue here,” he said.

 

San Francisco Chronicle columnists Phillip Matier and Andrew Ross appear Sundays, Mondays and Wednesdays. Matier can be seen on the KPIX-TV morning and evening news. He can also be heard on KCBS radio Monday through Friday at 7:50 a.m. and 5:50 p.m. Got a tip? Call (415) 777-8815, or e-mail matierandross@sfchronicle.com.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/matier-ross/article/America-s-Cup-could-cost-S-F-millions-4265828.php#ixzz2Kayi5L72

For those of us who still follow the America’s Cup, this is not really a surprise. The Cup is barely recognizable. Sailing it seems is secondary to the events surrounding it.  How many concerts? How much advertising? Doesn’t all that mean it should be able to stand on it’s own?

 

 

AT HOME

Like most of us in the northeast, we to lost power, which meant no internet, and curiously our cell phones stopped working as well. Shoveling snow became a pastime, while wondering when the electricity would be restored. Without electricity naturally no light, but no heat soon becomes the biggest concern. Would I have to drain the water pipes?  The power was restored just in time.

Shoveling is an ongoing task, but the sun has made it so much easier and gave time for a tour of Newport. Now we are expecting rain. The water has no place to go, so it will be interesting. Snow scheduled again later in the week.