Tag: america’s cup

The best argument I’ve heard for Newport as host of the AC

While this is indeed the most compelling argument I have read for bringing the America’s Cup to Newport, there is a very big difference between One boat using Newport as a base and an America’s Cup event.  An America’s Cup event in Newport would disrupt life here in ways we cannot imagine. I much prefer to see boats being built and launched here.

Can Newport and the state of Rhode Island afford to spend the money to bring the Cup here? Do the numbers really make sense? Will it really increase employment in a meaningful way? Not just part time jobs.

COULD THIS BE NEW ENGLAND’S BEST CHRISTMAS EVER?

Ken Read is a resident of Newport and is the CEO and Skipper of PUMA Ocean

Racing – a sailing team built to participate in the Volvo Ocean Race. He is

also the Vice President of North Sails Group LLC. Here he shares his

excitement on the possibility of the America’s Cup coming to his town:

———————————————————————-

Rhode Island needs the America’s Cup, and has the opportunity within its

grasp to do so. An amazing last minute organizational effort between many

different state and private organizations has made Rhode Island a front

runner in the race to be the venue for the 2013 America’s Cup.

At first glance it would appear that I am the most biased person in the

state to write an editorial in support of the America’s Cup coming to Rhode

Island. I grew up in this area, and have sailed on Narragansett Bay my whole

life. I moved to Newport in the infamous summer of 1983 and witnessed

firsthand the removal of the America’s Cup from our shores. Since then I

have had the good fortune to be a part of dozens of world class sailboat

racing teams including skippering Dennis Conner’s America’s Cup bids on two

separate occasions.

Over the past three years I have served as the CEO and Skipper of PUMA Ocean

Racing, the Volvo Ocean Race entry of the sports-lifestyle company PUMA. The

Volvo Ocean Race is considered as one of the big three sailing events in the

world, along with the Olympics and the America’s Cup.

I am proud to say that PUMA Ocean Racing is the second largest professional

sailboat racing team in the United States, second only in size and success

to BMW-Oracle Racing, the holder of the America’s Cup. Like all professional

teams we had a choice on where we wanted to organize, train and build our

program. We chose Rhode Island.

Why did we choose Rhode Island?

First of all, Rhode Island has a marine trade industry that helped us create

a racing program that can successfully compete against the best in the

world.

Secondly, we can keep the construction, design and engineering of our

programs major components literally within driving distance of our

waterfront base, located at the Newport Shipyard since 2007.

And finally, we are a five-minute sail from some of the best sailing grounds

in the world that we use for training, testing and racing.

What does this all mean to the State of Rhode Island? Thanks to these three

major attributes PUMA Ocean Racing has spent over 20 million dollars in

Rhode Island in the past three years. This sum has covered the fundamental

components’ of a program our size such as design and engineering, boat and

mast construction, sails, rigging, housing, and food. Not to mention the

influx of cash that our employees and their families spend to live their

daily lives. And this is money that represents a few cents on the dollar

compared to what the America’s Cup would bring to the region.

My point takes a twist though, and I sincerely hope that our governmental

leaders and citizens understand a second crucial point. The decision to

spend money on infrastructure to lure the America’s Cup has very little to

do with the sport of sailing as a whole, and has everything to do with good

business. — Read on:

http://forum.sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/gforum.cgi?post=11021

BMW PULLS OUT OF THE AMERICA’S CUP/ SAN FRANCISCO STILL WANTS THE RACES

The following is written by James Boyd

At the end of the year BMW will bring to a close its longstanding partnership with Oracle Racing and thereby end its involvement in the America’s Cup. This is by mutual agreement of both partners. Both parties set ambitious goals and achieved the ultimate objective: winning the America’s Cup.

BMW has partnered BMW Oracle Racing since 2002. Technology and skills have transferred freely between the automaker and sailing team, most notably in the fields of structural engineering and high-modulus composite construction. The result was celebrated in the February when the team’s wing sail trimaran USA 17, the fastest yacht in the history of the America’s Cup, won the 33rd Match with a 2:0 victory off Valencia, Spain.

“On the design and engineering front, BMW engineers set new benchmarks in terms of intelligent lightweight design,” said Ralf Hussmann, General Manager BMW Sports Marketing and Brand Cooperation. “In winning the 33rd America’s Cup, we achieved all of our ambitious goals. We will continue to be involved in the sport on a national level.”

“The America’s Cup combines a technological challenge with a sporting one and success is measured by the result on the race course,” added Russell Coutts CEO of BMW Oracle Racing “In that sense, both the team and BMW are proud that our collaboration resulted in victory.”

“WE ARE IN THE RED ZONE”

San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom is working around the clock in a last-ditch

effort to keep the city’s bid for the America’s Cup alive – even as Larry

Ellison openly courts Newport, R.I. “We are in the red zone,” Newsom said

Tuesday evening. San Francisco’s bid for the 2012 race took a sudden dive

last week when Team Ellison began talking very publicly with Newport about

holding the race there.

“I would like to believe that our deal was not used as a negotiating

strategy to leverage a deal in Rhode Island,” said Supervisor Ross

Mirkarimi, a key backer of San Francisco’s bid. That’s exactly what is

happening, however. Although everyone is trying to keep on the high road,

the folks at City Hall are anything but smiles as they try to deal with

Ellison’s group.

According to Newsom, the negotiations are not over what piers to use or how

much public money to spend, but rather about tax increment financing and

other financial details. “This is a billion-dollar economics package, with

thousands of jobs and a big investment by their organization. I can

understand their need for certainty,” Newsom said.

“I’ve been on the phone steadily for the past five days,” the mayor said.

“The one thing we can’t afford to do is get petulant and throw up our hands

or start pointing fingers.” Besides, there will be plenty of time for that

if Ellison raises the anchor and heads east. — SF Chronicle,

http://tinyurl.com/SFC-122210

METAPHORS: San Francisco supporters should be concerned about Newsom’s

comment of being “in the red zone.” This phrase, which references a football

team’s ability to score inside the 20 yard line, has not been a strength of

his town’s team. As of December 23rd, the San Francisco 49ers ranked 23rd

out of 32 NFL teams in red zone scoring percentage. As for Newport, which

typically cheers for the New England Patriots, their team is ranked third

overall.

MORE NEWSOM: “They (GGYC) seemed dissatisfied with some key components of

our bid,” said Newsom. “We’ve been working aggressively behind the scenes to

address those concerns.” Newsom would not say what specifically changed, but

the Board of Supervisors has given the Mayor’s Office the power to make

amendments as long as the major components of the agreement remain intact.

— SF Examiner: http://tinyurl.com/SFE-122210

RHODE ISLAND RALLY: Supporter came out for a Rally to Host the 2013

America’s Cup on Wednesday morning at the Marriott in Newport, RI, where

Sail Newport Executive Director Brad Read encouraged the crowd to embrace

this opportunity. “We believe in Narragansett Bay as the premier tourist

attraction that Rhode Island has,” said Read. “We want to make sure that we

run the best events, the most worldwide recognizable events that we can. I

think Narragansett Bay is the perfect backdrop for the America’s Cup.” Watch

video from the event here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gF2drHLbkSQ

MORE READ: Sailing World magazine’s Stuart Streuli caught up with Brad after

the rally to grill him on the details. Here is the interview:

http://tinyurl.com/SW-122210

TICK TOCK: The America’s Cup defender Golden Gate Yacht Club is required by

the Protocol for the 34th America’s Cup to declare the venue location by

December 31st. While there are provisions to amend the Protocol so as to

extend this deadline, it would not be a popular move. GGYC is already

considered to have a technical advantage, thus challenging teams are eager

to focus their design strategy on the selected venue. Additionally, the

selected venue will determine whether prospective challengers can seek

suitable sponsorship for them to enter the event. —

http://tinyurl.com/AC-122210

the latest AC dope? a moving target

This is from sailing anarchy, I still believe that Newport should be careful what they wish for. Valencia has a purpose built venue, empty. It seems that the AC community wants their cake and eat it as well.

ac dope

a change we can live with?

The absolute shitstorm of meetings, public statements, news reports and lobbying over the location for the 34th America’s Cup is massively it is impacting the goals so loftily sought out by Messrs. Ellison and Coutts.

We’ve gone from an event that will revolutionize the public perception of sailing, that will grab the ‘Facebook Generation’s’ interest and introduce the sport to millions of new people to something that is only going to work if it can be hosted cheaply and easily.

That’s BMW/Oracle’s stated reason for the world’s third richest man ditching San Francisco: The deal left him on the hook for far too much cash if the event didn’t make any money or if the sponsorship dollars didn’t materialize.

We’ve said from the very, very beginning that Ellison could succeed at his goal of changing the face of the Cup and sailing in the US only through a very careful and expensive process that guaranteed maximum eyeballs watching a completely new presentation of the kind of racing that few have ever seen.  His success would depend absolutely on a well-prepared and promoted venue, on participation of a half dozen solid teams, and on him paying whatever it costs to bring in network television and fully integrate it with the web and the dozens of new distribution channels.

But something has changed – something big – and it looks as though the team may have given up on the vision, working instead on getting something ironed out in much less desirable and accessible Newport and proceeding with the plans for a traveling circus.

So what happened?  Is this the final step of Tom Ehman’s decades-old plan to get the Cup back to Newport where he first worked with the NYYC? Is the team finally getting enoughpressure from Grant Dalton and the other CEOs to get it sorted or they are out?  Are Larry and Russell sick and tired of trying to do something special for an ungrateful sailing public, or sick of trying to make San Francisco work for a government that didn’t appreciate the opportunity?

One thing is for sure:  Considering the volume of cash that Larry Ellison has spent on not only previous Cups but numerous projects throughout his lifetime, it ain’t about the money.  But considering the glee with which the ‘yachting establishment’ up in the Northeast is tossing lifelines to Ehman & Co, perhaps it is about something far simpler, far older, and far more in keeping with the AC being unable to escape being an ancient and obsolete competition for the super rich…and not the public.  After all, San Fran is like the nouveau riche guy ostracized by the real old money folks that built America…and had their summer homes in Newport.

But hell, who knows? Galway is almost as isolated as Newport, and they had hundreds of thousands of visitors to that small Irish town for the Volvo stopover.  Larry can still accomplish his TV-based goals if he gets some good competitors and they sail in the confined waters of Narragansett Bay with innovative coverage tachniques.  It could work.  Ok, It probably won’t, but it could.  So maybe there won’t be billions for a region, but there would be lots of good yachting jobs coming up in Rhode Island, a great time to be the skipper of a rich NYers powerboat or a canvas guy…

Check the Newport thread here for some light reading and the SF thread here.  Pack a lunch.

It’s back to San Francisco

as we suspected San Francisco has conceded (not their word). It is likely that the city will lose money hosting the America’s Cup.  Newport may get a pre regatta event. Honestly it is all Newport could handle. I doubt Newport could have found the resources to host the America’s Cup.  In the end things turned out for the best. This story is not finished in my opinion.

Is anyone else tired of this story?

The Route Du Rhum is Off

When one sees the attention sailing is afforded here; as example the Route du Rhum. Thomas Coville aboard “Sodebo” a 105′ trimaran is in the lead, which should be no surprise.

It makes me wonder how the America’s Cup could be anywhere but in Europe. The statistics would surely show that the public in Europe is much more interested in sailing.

“FROM THE FLINTSTONE GENERATION TO THE FACEBOOK GENERATION”

Russell Coutts got everyone’s attention with this remark. My generation is mildly insulted and the next wholly amused; since they probably think it is time we moved over and made room for them.

He is not without his critics; but they may be a bit premature as no one can yet know what the outcome of the bold changes Russell is bringing to sailing and the America’s Cup.  I admit(perhaps showing the flintstone side of me) that I am unsure of what to make of the “new” face of the America’s Cup. But the Cup has always been about change.

At the recent 12 meter era reunion much was made of the remark. Honestly, we were probably the group to which he was referring. I will add the the 12 meters are not only a suitable, slow boat, but so very elegant to watch.

WHAT ARE THE PARAMETERS?

The following link is to a review of a book about Joshua Slocum.  It is interesting on a number of levels. The story, the judgment,

It led me to reflect on The America’s Cup Hall of Fame. There are stated parameters, but how do we interpret them? Is suitability judged on merits, ability and contributions to the America’s Cup Alone? Is there more  and is it subjective?

The obvious example is Pete Rose. It seems he will never be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame, despite his accomplishments. I do not follow baseball and only know this story from it’s newsworthyness (a word?) If the criteria is solely on the merits of his accomplishments in baseball it seems a foregone conclusion.

Back to the America’s Cup Hall of Fame; Alan Bond was inducted despite several stints in prison. If he was judged solely on his accomplishments in the America’s Cup, he was indeed deserving.  Simon Daubney accused and banned from sailing and subsequently reinstated, all for supposed drug use.

A number of people chose not to attend Simon Daubney’s induction, remaining unconvinced of his innocence. I do not have an opinion, I don’t know enough.

What I do question, however, Is that I can think of a number of people, who, in my opinion, merit induction, and to date have not been considered. So, what are the parameters?

RUSSELL COUTTS PART 2

Once again this interview is thanks to James Boyd of the Daily Sail. Anyone who reads scuttlebutt, sailing anarchy or any of the other sailing site must have noticed that there is a great deal of conversation about the direction of sailing and the direction of the America’s Cup. People still look for the Cup to exhibit leadership. There is a lot of criticism from all sides right now. I am not sure people know what it is that they want themselves.

We started this article by stating that Coutts has effectively started out from a blank piece of paper with his vision for the 34th America’s Cup and while teams wrestle with the design of their AC72s, one of the hardest tasks for Iain Murray to establish is the best race format that on the one hand satisfies that reasonably vague concept sailors term ‘fair racing’ and maximising the spectacle and excitement of the competition, as if racing boats capable of 40+ knots weren’t enough.

“To make a difference it is going to have to be a lot more exciting than what it’s been,” states Coutts. “When experts look at the audience figures from AC32 and work out what they actually mean, they are much lower than what we need to achieve to make this viable. I think we have got to look at what we have to do to engage the non-sailing public. We have to get away from some of the complicated rules and terminology and processes that we have had in the past for years and years that I think have stymied the whole understanding for people watching it.” So we can expect more understandable methods for the race committee to communicate with competitors (ie no flags) and almost certainly a simplification of the match racing rules and terminology wherever possible.

As to the ‘fair racing’ issue that requires competition to be three miles out to sea, away from land effects, Coutts says: “To my way of thinking the people that are looking at that are really saying that ‘what we want are absolutely steady conditions so that the fastest boat will win.’ But wind shifts are part of the game and maybe that is a good thing to have it in a shifty venue that has maybe got some obstructions around the course so that we have other things to consider and it isn’t just about the fastest boat winning.”

So possibly for the first time the 34th America’s Cup may not be primarily a design competition.

With match racing, particularly with standard windward-leeward courses being perpetually reduced in length, then the start is perhaps overly important to the final outcome of a race. For this reason Coutts says it is likely that the first upwind leg will be a substantially shortened.

Nice multihulls

“It is amazing the number of people who draw conclusions about multihull racing, that ‘it is not tactical’, ‘it is easier and not as skilful as monohull sailing’. Most of those people have never sailed a modern multihull. I think that most of the monohull sailors who go racing in a good multihull fleet get surprised and say this racing is actually very tactical and very cool.” He cites the numerous monohull sailors who competed in the 33rd America’s Cup.

A frequent criticism for example is that multihulls tack poorly and therefore racing them is simply a case of picking a side and heading out to the layline to the next mark to minimise the number of manoeuvres. This is not as true as it once was.

“The wing will allow the boat to tack quite a lot better than a lot of people think of traditional multihulls with the traditional fine deep bows that were really draggy in a tack,” says Coutts. “Now I think they will not tack fantastically, but better than they have ever done and being the America’s Cup choice those systems will be refined with the daggerboards and so forth.”

As to the number of manoeuvres, tacking duels, etc Coutts says they are looking at putting boundaries on the course so that the laylines are simply taken out of play and this will force more manoeuvring. The typical diamond-shaped race course will perhaps become more a rectangle with pointy ends, although we imagine a reaching leg or two, when the multihulls will be able to show off their highest speeds, might also be included. Obviously teams are clamouring for a final decision to be made about this at the earliest opportunity as it will have a major impact on the design of their AC72s.

“A lot of people are judging the multihull now,” says Coutts. “I think we’ll end up judging it in three years time. A lot of people try to make comparisons with the last AC for example. Well I would say that if you went out and got two monohulls with the only restriction being a 90ft waterline and raced them around a 20 mile course you’d get a pretty uneven race and my money would be on it being a pretty boring race, not even as interesting as what we saw. So if you make a good multihull rule, which I believe they are doing, that produces relatively even boats, that rewards good sailing and you get the course configuration right, then the match racing will be good quality.”

In particular when racing faster boats, be they monohull or multihull, Coutts points out that there tends to be more passing opportunities than in slower boats, when typically it is much easier for the boat in front to defend their lead. “If we can get the course configurations right you will see more passing and it will be pretty compelling. If the boats are faster too and if we have a short course format – it will still be quite long because the boats will be high speed – but they might be manoeuvring every three minutes.

“Everyone talks about Fremantle being fantastic and it produced great images at the time, but go back and look at the races now and there is a lot of straight line sailing. I think to make the next jump we have to move quite a bit beyond that. It is not a little tweak here and there, if we want to attract more of the general public to our sport then we have to take some steps to change quite a few things.”

The America’s Cup brand

We have mentioned in previous articles that the change to an ultra-modern high performance catamaran and a more action-packed race format could change the flavour of the event, that in marketing terms it becomes more ‘Red Bull’ than ‘Louis Vuitton’.

Coutts disagrees: “I don’t see it rules out the luxury brands at all. In fact, quite the contrary. I think it depends a lot on what else is going on around the event and the way it is set up and the facilities on shore and the way it is organised on the water and so forth. I think it might appeal to a broader range of sponsors, but I still think the luxury brands will be there. This is still going to be perceived as the top end of technology and the top of sailing.”

In summary

Coutts is looking to revolutionise the America’s Cup, and create a sports event many times more appealing than it has ever been in the past. If it comes to pass, then that means more interest in not just the America’s Cup but sailing in general, ultimately leading to more participation and this can only be a good thing for all of us involved.

As he concludes: “Of course you have the tradition element of the sport who would love it to stay the same forever, but all I can say to that is that the world is changing. What appeals to my kids – it is a different world to when I grew up. They have access to different information and different things and we can’t keep a closed mind on this stuff. What may have been fun when I was 15 years old, 15 year olds of today view things differently.”

The acid test as ever is whether what is proposed is capable of making teenagers voluntarily put down their Xboxes and PlayStations.