Greetings yachties

Is Yacht Racing a Pretend Business?

Brad Butterworth talks to Valencia Sailing

Limit – reserved slot for the 2011 Around Australia Ocean Race.

Blocksail – Melges 32 Worlds

RC44 – Portoroz Cup – Cayard Report

Ras al Khaimah – update

RC44 – Portoroz Cup

ISAF and Rolex Announce the Nominees for the ISAF Rolex World Sailor of the Year Awards 2009

IBI News – Aleutian Yachts

Rolex Cup – Les Voiles de Saint-Tropez

Enjoy, more later

Is Yacht Racing a Pretend Business?

September 29, 2009 by admin

Can a sporting team be a commercial enterprise? Are there business models that allow for professional sports-teams to compete and make money – or will the need for winning mean that competitive teams will need to be topped up by wealthy benefactors or government sporting grants?

Certainly, if you look at the America’s Cup, you would have to assume that profit is not a motivator. A sense of (national) pride, the glory of winning and perhaps some R&D that might have a residual value all push wealthy individuals to spend millions of dollars, but without the backing of the team principals would the balance sheet stand up? Is sailing as a sport more akin to a web start-up – a big investment, some great technology but no real business model except for the ability to sell advertising to desired eyeballs?

The FT (UK) has published an article that asks similar questions of football. It is an interesting read. Many people in the business of Yacht Racing would probably think of football (soccer) as a sport to emulate. But for all the fans through the door, merchandise and media deals, football is supported by debt and wealthy benefactors. The article’s author sums it up as:

more here

Valencia Sailing

Brad Butterworth: No, I don’t think it measures. It doesn’t look like it measures to me, even under the certificate that they gave us, they don’t seem to be sure very sure about that themselves and also they are not interested in getting the boat measured. In the end, the boat is not even 90 by 90 and that’s what we are after. They had plenty of time to go over the rules of the measurement, they know what they’ve got to do. They can obviously change it any way they feel like it, show up and race the race and this is what I look forward to.

Valencia Sailing: Why do you include the rudders in the measurement of the Load Waterline Length (LWL)?

Brad Butterworth: Because it’s part of the vessel.

Valencia Sailing: Are the rudders always included in the measurement of multihulls?

Brad Butterworth: Well, this is the America’s Cup and it’s part of the vessel. The New York court says that it is. Every time that we do something we are taken back to court but it’s the New York court, it’s in the US. The court says it’s part of the vessel and I think they have changed it since then. So, I don’t see any problem there.

Valencia Sailing: The NY court has also upheld your right to freely set the rules. I won’t argue whether this is fair or not but my question concerns your agreement with ISAF over the Rules of Sailing. Why did it have to be secret to begin with?

Brad Butterworth: It’s just a commercial agreement between a yacht club and ISAF. It’s just an agreement to use their rules, it’s a service agreement for them to provide their people and help us run the regatta in a fair way for everyone. That was done also in the past and you have never seen any of the agreements of other regattas being made public. It’s just a nonsense.

Valencia Sailing: Why did you then decide to make it public at a later stage?

Brad Butterworth: It’s not such a big deal. Obviously the Americans got their knickers in a twist over and so it was made public. You can now see it, everybody can now see what it is. It’s actually a lot better in terms of the agreements that have been done in the past with ISAF. It’s a hell lot better agreement for ISAF and sailing that has been made in the past. It’s just a lot of bullshit being put around about it that doesn’t amount to much.

more here

‘Limit (Alan Brierty) 2008 Rolex Sydney Hobart Race’     © Rolex/Daniel Forster

Four out of the top five line honours winners in the 2008 Rolex Sydney Hobart have now reserved slots for the 2011 Around Australia Ocean Race.

Grant Wharington’s 98 footer Wild Thing, previously known as Skandia, Matt Allen’s modified Volvo 70 Ichi Ban, Andrew Short’s 80 footer Shockwave registered over the last few months and now the fifth fastest boat south in last years blue water classic is planning to join the Around Australia fleet for the 7,500 nautical mile epic.

West Australian yachtsman and well known mining industry figure Alan Brierty has taken a slot reservation for his Reichel Pugh 63 Limit, which is one of the gun boats on the Grand Prix IRC circuit.

Limit recent took line honours and was the IRC and Performance Racing handicap winner in the 2009 Auckland to Noumea race.

Brierty commented ‘Its shaping as a top class field and as a proud West Australian this is a race I can not miss.’

Work on progressing the ‘2011 Around Australia Ocean Race and Rally’ off the back of 162 Slot reservations in the first 88 days of the life of the event and is keeping Bob Williams and his team at Ocean Events Pty Ltd in North Fremantle very busy.

Williams provided this update on progress.

more here

Bank Sarasin – RC44 Portoroz Cup

Paul Cayard

Monday, September 28, 2009

I just learned today that Portoroz is one word.

Today was the official practice race. We went out early and did some match race practice with Artemis. The practice race was a fleet race and we finished a credible third. We had the lead off the start and <’s all of the way up the first beat then made some mistakes so the good news is that we can improve. The wind was 8-9 knots which is a good breeze in these boats. As you can see from the photo, we were fully powered up. Artemis won the practice race and Aqua was second, Ceeref fourth.

In the photo you have, from front to back; Mo Gutenkunst, “Belt” Sander, Jarad “Beach” Henderson, Robbie “the Battler” Naismith, “Sister” Theresa, Marco “Shark” Constant and missing is Mohito and myself. I think I must have been down below making a sandwich at this time. No really, I was on the boat today. The dude on the back with the life jacket on is a photographer.

Tomorrow we start the Match Racing part of the event. Our first match is against Sea Dubai, and then we have Aqua who is leading the season. First warning signal is at 1130. The forecast is for light winds all week.

Many thanks to ‘Astrid in Dubai’ for shooting more film to give a progress report (16 September 2009) on the America’s Cup venue at Ras al Khaimah.

When I asked Astrid the $64 million question about whether the venue will be ready for the regatta, she replied:

“I am sure they will be ready in time, they have started the work on the island suddenly [and] with lots of machines. And the Marina clubhouse is ready. Also the clubhouse of the golf course is up and running, plus the Al Hamra Fort hotel.”

When I asked Astrid how she became interested enough in the venue and the forthcoming event to take some video reports, this was her reply:

“My interest started with the surprise of having such a huge event in RAK in a development that we have passed by on many occasions when returning from a mountain biking trip in Wadi Bieh. We never thought that behind the Al Hamra Mall this whole development was ready. And then I found myself proud of having this sporting event coming to our Emirates.”

more here

more Americas Cup here

nzsailfinance is marine finance to provide people like you with the facility to purchase marine related products, at an affordable monthly payment, tailored to suit your budget.

These products include:

new sails, furling solutions, deck hardware, interior and exterior upholstery, performance modifications, exterior refurbishment, rigging and more.

nzsailfinance will organise the cash to do your own deal, with your supplier of choice.

Contact us today to discuss a solution for you.

Team Artemis and skipper Dean Barker, on great form in Portoroz (c) Ales Fevzer / RC44 Class Association

Artemis and Dean Barker on top form in the Bank Sarasin RC 44 Portoroz Cup practice race

Dean Barker and his Team Artemis confirmed their great form today, leading the Bank Sarasin RC 44 Portoroz Cup ahead of Team Aqua (Cameron Appleton) and Paul Cayard’s new Team Katusha.

September 28, 2009 – With eleven top level teams on the water, the RC 44 fleet is probably at its best ever. Speaking during this morning’s press conference in Portoroz (Slovenia), Russell Coutts – co-designer of the RC 44 and founder of the Class – confirmed that “the level is incredibly high. We have eleven strict one-design boats led by some of the world’s best sailors, and we are all united in a wonderful sailing arena. It doesn’t get much better than this.”

The results of today’s practice race speak by themselves: all the teams crossed the arrival line within less than two minutes after an extremely close race. The RC 44 regattas are obviously a team effort; however, the team’s helmsmen are worth a special mention: Dean Barker finished first (although he chose not to cross the arrival line), ahead of Cameron Appleton, Paul Cayard, Sébastien Col, Ray Davies, Michael Reardon, Russell Coutts, Karol Jablonski and the rest of the pack; an extraordinary line-up of famous skippers that clearly confirms the world level status of the RC 44 Class.

The event starts tomorrow morning with a full match race round-robin. The fleet regatta will take place from Thursday to Saturday.

PredictWind’s weather forecast announces light to moderate winds decreasing throughout the week.

The teams involved:

(Name of team, owner or fleet race helmsman, match race helmsman)

Team Aqua, Chris Bake,  Cameron Appleton,

Team Ceeref, Igor Lah,  Sébastien Col,

Sea Dubai, Yousef Lahej, DIMC  Markus Wieser,

BMW ORACLE Racing, Ian Vickers,  Russell Coutts,

Team Organika, Maciej Nawrocki,  Karol Jablonski,

Puerto Calero Islas Canarias, José Juan Calero,  José Maria Ponce,

Artemis, Torbjorn Tornqvist,  Dean Barker,

No Way Back, Pieter Heerema,  Ray Davies,

Team Austria, René Mangold, Christian Binder,

Team Katusha, Pieter Taselaar,  Paul Cayard,

Team Blue Grove Miss Slovenia, Michael Reardon,  Gasper Vincec,

Photos: Copyright RC 44 Class

With eleven teams on the starting line, the RC 44 fleet is more competitive than ever (c) Ales Fevzer / RC44 Class Association

ISAF and Rolex Announce the Nominees for the ISAF Rolex World Sailor of the Year Awards 2009

Monday 28 September 2009

ISAF received nominations for the 2009 Awards from across the world for sailors representing all aspects of the sport. In deciding the nominees, the achievements of sailors made during the qualifying period of 1 September 2008 and 31 August 2009 are taken into consideration. There can be only one winner in each of the two categories, male and female, and we are delighted to announce the names of those sailors now vying for the coveted and prestigious 2009 ISAF Rolex World Sailor of the Year Award.

The 2009 nominees are:

Female

Sam Davies (GBR),

Hilary Lister (GBR),

Blanca Manchón (ESP),

Anna Tunnicliffe (USA),

Male

Pascal Bidégorry (FRA),

Michel Desjoyeaux (FRA),

Paul Goodison (GBR),

Torben Grael (BRA),

Nathan Outteridge (AUS),

The achievements of the 2009 Nominees are here

Name change for steel expedition yacht builder

By IBI Magazine

Aleutian Yachts, which builds expedition vessels from 25m-37m (82ft-120ft) and owns a subsidiary, Citadel Yachts, is to now build its boats under the Citadel brand.

The decision follows the launch of a new model also designated ‘Aleutian’ by a competitor boatbuilder.

“When we realised that another builder was using the Aleutian name for one of its models, we decided to avoid confusion and re-brand our vessels under the Citadel trademark. This allows us to guarantee out customers the quality and service that falls under our specific brand,” says Greg Ward, CEO of Aleutian Yachts.

Citadel Yachts’ latest yacht, a 28m (92ft) steel tri-deck expedition yacht called Miss Lisa, will be making its debut at this year’s Ft Lauderdale International Boat Show. The yacht is fitted out with a full-width on-deck master suite, three double guest staterooms and two double crew cabins.

The next project for Citadel Yachts is a 31m (102ft) planned for launch in the spring of 2010 and will have an internal space that compares to yachts 6m (20ft) longer.

more here

LES VOILES DE SAINT-TROPEZ SETS SAIL

September 28, 2009

It may be the end of the summer season, but Saint-Tropez is bustling with life as the 11th edition of Les Voiles de Saint-Tropez takes sail. With nearly 300 boats participating in this grand event that unites both modern and classic yachts, the 2009 edition promises spectacular racing on the water and one-of-a-kind ambiance on land in the race village and town centre.

Yachts have been arriving in Saint-Tropez throughout the weekend, with the port expected to reach capacity this evening when the rest of the traditional yachts arrive, following today’s finish of the Yacht Club de France’s Autumn Cup from Cannes to Saint-Tropez. Traditional yachts begin racing as of tomorrow while the first of the coastal races took place today for the modern division.

With racing to continue through Saturday 3 October, one can expect some magnificent sights as Saint-Tropez is taken back through generations of history and yacht design. With some boats dating back more than a century, one could say that touring the port this week is like browsing an open history book. Four days of coastal racing have been scheduled for the traditional yachts, five for the modern yachts, with Thursday reserved as the Challenge Day. Inspired by the original race that has now become Les Voiles de Saint-Tropez, the Challenge Day offers competitors a chance to duel against one another following the historical route of the race: Saint-Tropez, Saint-Raphaël and La Nioulargue, the buoy that marks the famous shallows in the Mediterranean. Assuming the weather plays its part, one can certainly expect intense and beautiful racing.

The Rolex Trophy

Yet another exciting addition to the week’s racing is the opportunity for the classic yachts to win the Rolex Trophy. The Rolex Trophy will be given during Sunday’s prize giving ceremony to the “Tradition” class boat over 16 metres who has accumulated the fewest points during Les Voiles de St. Tropez. The winner will also receive a coveted Rolex Submariner, close companion to all nautical achievements.

This annual trophy highlights the yacht of the week that has demonstrated clear consistency and performance. Previous winners include Rowdy (2008), Agneta (2007) and So Fong (2006).

The very first winner of the Rolex Trophy, So Fong, was designed by famous navel architects Sparkman & Stephens and was manufactured in Hong Kong in 1937. Owned by Bruno Entrecanales for the past five years, this 26-metre monohull sails under the Spanish flag.

more here

more later

This post is tagged Aleutian Yachts, Anna Tunnicliffe (USA), artemis, Blanca Manchón (ESP), Blocksail, BMW ORACLE Racing, brad butterworth, cameron appleton, chris bake, Christian Binder, Citadel Yachts, dean barker, DIMC Markus Wieser, eam Aqua, Gasper Vincec, Hilary Lister (GBR), Ian Vickers, IBI News, igor lah, ISAF Rolex World Sailor of the Year Award, José Juan Calero, Jose Maria Ponce, Karol Jablonski, Les Voiles de Saint-Tropez, Maciej Nawrocki, Melges 32 Worlds, Michael Reardon, Michel Desjoyeaux (FRA), Nathan Outteridge (AUS), no way back, Pascal Bidégorry (FRA), paul cayard, Paul Goodison (GBR), Pieter Heerema, Pieter Taselaar, Puerto Calero Islas Canarias, Ras al Khaimah, ray davies, rc44, RC44 - Portoroz Cup, Rene Mangold, rolex trophy, russell coutts, Sam Davies (GBR), Sea Dubai, Sebastien Col, talks to Valencia Sailing, team austria, Team Blue Grove Miss Slovenia, team ceeref, Team Katusha, team organika, Torben Grael (BRA), Torbjorn Tornqvist, Yousef Lahej