Where do we go from here?
The America’s Cup new format will have long lasting consequences on the international yacht racing scene and professional yacht racing worldwide. All the Classes and professional Series are directly or indirectly affected: the sailors have to choose their path; the sponsors to decide where to invest.
Is it an opportunity for our sport to grow? The subject will be extensively discussed during the World Yacht Racing Forum in Estoril (December 14-15), with a special America’s Cup session and a keynote address by AC 33 winner James Spithill. In the mean time, we ask the CEO’s and Class managers of the world’s leading professional sailing series what consequences they believe the America’s Cup new format will have on their circuit.
The people interviewed below – most of them involved in this winter’s World Yacht Racing Forum in Estoril – are Mark Turner, Executive Chairman, OC ThirdPole, Jim O’Toole, CEO,World Match Racing Tour, Knut Frostad, CEO, Volvo Ocean Race, Franck David, Manager,Multi One Design Circuit, Bertrand Favre Class Manager, RC 44 Championship Tour andDécision 35 multihulls, Ignacio Triay, Director, Audi MedCup Circuit and Luc Talbourdet, President, IMOCA.
The World Yacht Racing Forum 2010 will dedicate an entire session to the Business of the America’s Cup 34. The debate, hosted by Richard Simmonds, BBC Sailing Presenter, Managing Director, Sunset & Vine will cover the following topics:
What is the future for this Iconic Sailing Event?
What is the latest update from the challengers & defenders?
What are the commercial opportunities for potential sponsors?
How will AC34 captivate a wider media audience?
WYRF: Will the America’s Cup new format have an impact on your Class and, if so, what will it be?
Jim O’Toole, CEO, World Match Racing Tour: “With the exodus of the AC34 event from traditional match racing to high speed catamarans this has created a new and exciting reality in our world. The World Match Racing Tour now sits as a significant international match racing event and has a greater role in guiding the ISAF global match racing structure. This is an opportunity that we intend to grasp wholeheartedly.”
Bertrand Favre, Class manager, RC 44 Championship Tour: “The Cup’s new format will not have a big effect on the RC 44 Championship Tour because it is an owner’s Class. The owners are passionate people who have already confirmed their participation in the Tour 2011, which will start in March 2011 in San Diego. The Class keeps growing since it was launched and 13 teams took part in the first world Championship in Lanzarote in October. The circuit is very attractive for owners who don’t want to start sailing multihulls with wingsails… It consists of six events per year spread across Europe, the Middle East and the United States. There will also be a good coordination between us and the America’s Cup Race Management in order to avoid calendar clashes.”
Knut Frostad, CEO, Volvo Ocean Race: “We will certainly watch how AC progresses carefully. Of what I have seen so far I believe the recruitments they have made to the top management is more interesting than the boats themselves. Shorter race courses, onboard camera systems, sound, etc., are elements we are familiar with, but we would like to share and learn with the AC on these issues. The purpose of the Volvo Open 70 is very different to the AC72, so I don’t see the class changing much because of this. The challengers have expressed their concerns regarding costs; how AC will deal with this issue is relevant to us as we are constantly trying to reduce costs too. We are also constantly evaluating our class but our – and I believe AC’s – biggest challenge is still to make our sport compelling to the major brands who engage in sports sponsorship as well into the global mainstream media outlets. That is in our experience not so much about multihull or monohull but rather a question of sponsorship ROI as well as delivering a compelling story on TV. In an inshore story like the AC, the speed of the boats may have a bigger impact, but offshore the drama is not necessarily about the size and format of the boats.”
Ignacio Triay, Director, Audi MedCup: “Firstly we must make clear that the Audi MedCup Circuit is an event and not a Class and therefore I am only able to respond from the perspective of event director. The format for the 34th America’s Cup is very different to the format used for the Audi MedCup Circuit and will impact entries for 2011 as some teams now need to choose which discipline they wish to develop and pursue, monohull or multihul. Teams whose key focus and aim is the America’s Cup competition, and who entered the Audi MedCup Circuit, will not doubt now pursue their America’s Cup campaigns. Teams who want to race monohull boats at a professional level will find in the Circuit a platform on which to develop and I believe we will see a number of new entries next season.”
Mark Turner, Executive Chairman, OC ThirdPole: “An impact, of course, but I am not sure it will be a marked or long term one. Undoubtedly, the credibility of a multihull platform is enhanced by the decision on the format for AC34. To some agencies and brands, this will be positive. It will certainly lead to some sailors being occupied by the Cup, and equally lots of new blood wanting to widen their ‘monohull only’ CV’s
However, beyond the sailing world, in reality, a good part of our audience doesn’t know what the difference between multihull and monohull really means. 2011 will be the fifth year of the Extreme Sailing Series™. Each year we’ve grown and developed the event. We have a long term vision and are at the start of a new 5 year plan of expansion – with an eight event global circuit, spanning three continents, next year. The teams and the event have always been commercially funded, and this remains the case today. We need to look after all the stakeholders, providing them a stable and long term platform. What we must avoid is becoming in some way dependant on what the Cup does – it has its own set of rules and they change every few years.
The youth AC event is a good idea. The new small boat will be interesting to watch, in particular for us to see whether the wingsail works or not (from an event logistics and communication point of view). We see little if any conflict between what the AC teams will do 2011-2013, and the annual Extreme Sailing Series though. Annual budgets for an Extreme 40 team are less than 1% of a competitive Cup campaign.
We’ve had Cup teams dip into the Extreme Sailing Series, and whilst they can provide some small boosts on a PR front mainly, it would be a mistake for us to become dependent on these teams. We may well have a couple of them in 2011, and they are of course welcome, but we know they will probably not be with us in the years that follow. Our preliminary NOR for 2011 makes clear our desire to protect the interests of the teams that have been investing in the circuit already, and the Class rules for next year will also ensure that bigger budgets don’t guarantee victory.”
Bertrand Favre, Class Manager, Décision 35: “The media and public’s interest for multihulls will increase a lot in the next three years. This extended visibility will certainly give us the opportunity to meet new partners and sponsors. This is extremely positive, especially after the difficult years we have been through recently. From a sports point of view it is too early to evaluate the real impact this change will have. However some challengers will surely be interested by our fleet as a training ground. I am convinced that the D 35 is a great support to get familiar with big multihulls. The risk for our Class is to see teams joining for one year and then disappearing with their boat. It is down to us to convince them to stay and develop an interesting program.”
Franck David, Manager, Multi One Design: “Multi One Design S.A. is pleased with the choice of multihulls for the next America’s Cup, and so are all our skippers and investors. It is a positive choice for multihull racing as a whole and more generally for the sport of sailing vis à vis other sports. Multihulls will interest a wider public; it’s a statement for the future of sailing: faster, more modern, more attractive! We need to see what novelties the Defender will introduce regarding the format. At Multi One Design S.A. we have chosen offshore multihull one-designs, an eco-responsible attitude and new racing formats.”
Luc Talbourdet, President, IMOCA: “The IMOCA Class will pursue its strategy of development independently of what happens in the America’s Cup world. We want to grow internationally and enforce our four years program with a round the world race every second year (the Vendée Globe and the Barcelona World Race) and a race around Europe in-between every world rounding.”
WYRF: Do you see this as a positive move for the international yacht racing scene?
Knut Frostad, CEO, Volvo Ocean Race: “The AC needed a new boat and a new format, and I applaud Russell and his team for being brave. If they can achieve their goals at significantly lower cost than what was the case in the past, I think they can bring a lot of new thinking to the sport. There is no doubt that the focus on multihull sailing in general will be improved. Sailing is known to be a conservative sport and the new AC format is breaking with a lot of tradition. This is something sailing needs in general.”
Mark Turner, Extreme 40: “It’s a brave and positive decision, and one that I think is interesting for the sport. Whether it is the right thing for the AC brand will not be known until the end of 2013. Overall though, anything that can show sailing in a more entertaining fashion, touch new audiences, and help global brands see a greater commercial value in the sport, will be positive for all of the events and teams that are sponsor funded (a lot of sailing is not – different story).
What I do know is that there is only one kind of yachting that I have seen that makes non-sailing audiences gasp. And its on more than one hull – ‘hull flying’, ‘pitchpoling’ or high speed near misses are three very basic visuals that get people excited in the same way that millions of people manage to enjoy a load of cars going round and round a track… In the Extreme Sailing Series™ we take that action right up to the public in a stadium format, and it works better than we ever imagined. Top level professional sailing, can be entertaining. And if you live in a sponsor funded world like we do at OC ThirdPole, that has to be a priority for us. We now need to take what we’ve achieved and scale it up – and that is very much our ambition.”
Bertrand Favre, Class Manager, Décision 35 and RC 44: “I think it is really good because it is new and exciting. This new concept will bring speed and excitation and, more than anything, new faces in the top yacht racing environment, that had a tendency to be enclosed around itself.”
Jim O’Toole, CEO, World Match Racing Tour: “The WMRT has been a past pathway as a proving ground for AC skippers and teams. Now our excitement is the extremely positive impact it will have on our series and our business, as the WMRT now is in the unique position to be able to grow this opportunity into being the pre-eminent match racing series in world sailing.”
Franck David, Manager, Multi One Design: “It is positive and necessary. The world is moving and our sport must follow; it needs to follow the public’s aspirations and new communication tools. Multihull is a good way to capture a new audience, passionate by the sport and novelties. We are still pioneers in the world of sports TV and sports show. It is the beginning of a new era. But it will only work if the platform is right.”
Luc Talbourdet, President, IMOCA: “Yes, the public and the sailors like mono or multihulls of their time. And when a Class works well it brings new and young people into the sport, which is good for the sport of sailing. I just hope that Olympic sailing will follow.”
Ignacio Triay, Audi MedCup: “The move does open up a new spectrum in the world of international sailing and only time will tell whether it will positive or not.”
The World Yacht Racing Forum is co-located with the Yacht Racing Design and Technology Symposium and the International Superyacht Coatings Conference, 14-15 December 2010 at the Congress Centre, Estoril, Portugal
Bernard Schopfer
