Cup details

Leslie Ryan describes what she learned from the Challenger's meeting in Valencia

Following on from Leslie Ryan's update yesterday on the progress of GBR Challenge so today she fills us in with what she learned from the recent challengers meeting in Valencia.

Central to planning GBR Challenge's program and budget for the next four years is the schedule of 'pre-regattas' laid down by America's Cup Management. The dates for the pre-regattas next year have been provisionally set as:

5-11 September in Valencia
25 Sept-2 Oct Naples or Marseilles
17-23 Oct Naples or Marseilles.

At present ACM have yet to finalise the deals with Naples or Marseilles.

In 2005 there are to be four events in:

Valencia
Somewhere else in southern Europe, possibly Lisbon
Somewhere in northern Europe, possibly the UK or Germany
USA

2006 will see just two events both sailed in Valencia. Ryan believes that these will be more for promotional purposes for the benefit of sponsors and television.

This is followed in 2007 by the Louis Vuitton Cup and America's Cup between April and June. Ryan says that this is earlier in the year than they anticipated and ironically should cut a large chunk out of their budget which previously ran until the end of 2007.

The duration of the pre-regattas is likely to be nine days spanning two weekends where:
- day one is fleet racing
- day 2 and 3 - fleet or match racing,
- day 4 a lay day
- days 5-7 match racing

A spare day at the end of this may also be built in. This format is based on 10 teams and may be longer if there are more taking part.

It has also be mooted that the challenger series will start with a fleet race, before the Louis Vuitton Cup round robins begin. "They [ACM] haven’t said if the fleet race forms part of the Louis Vuitton Cup or if it is a show case. They have said they would like it to form part of it, so they need to finalise that."

Among the Challengers thedailysail spoke to in Geneva there was much grumbling about the cost of the pre-regattas significantly adding to campaign costs. Ryan says the added cost may not be as large as some have suggested.

"In reality if you have done a proper four year plan, we had time and training wherever it was going to be every year. So we always presumed we would be spending time in the new venue so there is a budget to get people down there a certain number of weeks per year and have a secondary base somewhere etc. So that should be in everyone's budget.

"The biggest issue for us was that unless you have build-up racing each year, or some sort of activity there is no way we are going to be able to raise the amount of money we are talking about. That is essential for the event to attract commercial partners and TV coverage and without it I would really struggle to sell a package now that didn’t have that."

Prior to learning of the pre-regattas Ryan says that they had been looking at their own form of four year program. This would have involved an intensive corporate entertainment program taking in yacht races around the world. "And it is great because one of the comments from the sailing team is that we do so little racing in the training time. It is hard to simulate racing conditions when you don’t do very much even when you are racing against your other team mate. So it is a positive from a training point of view."

For challengers there may well be an additional sweetener to entice them to pre-regattas. Ryan says that early discussions have indicated challengers might receive some form of financial support to take part in the pre-regattas covering the costs of getting one boat, two rigs, four containers and 20 people to the regatta. Teams choosing to take extra boats, people and equipment to the venue would have to pay for it themselves.

These details have yet to be finalised and there are other issues such as does the financial support only extend to teams who have officially become Challengers? "They implied for 2004 they would be more generous than they will be for 2005, so it may not be an increased financial issue," says Ryan.

There is also the issue of are the pre-regattas mandatory? Will there be a penalty for not attending one of the pre-regattas if for example a team decides it is more beneficial to them to spend the time training in Valencia? If so, what would the penalty be?

Ryan foresees a problem with such penalties. "Most teams will be up and running for the second half of 2005, but the big danger is that if the penalties are too great for teams which have not done the events before then, you will substantially put off late challengers. If one of the things is to make this a bigger and better event - and they are catering for 17 teams at the moment - this is an important consideration."

At present it is also unclear exactly how relevant the pre-regattas will be to the Louis Vuitton Cup. ACM have indicated that the pre-regattas will count towards the Cup and they are working on a weighting and scoring system for this. But will the points earned in the pre-regattas affect the seeding system for the challenger series and if so how? How will the defender Alinghi fit into this, if at all?

Ryan points out that while ACM are creating the rules, they have also said that the Challenger Commission will have a say in the challenger series and how that works. "Because the build-up of racing will affect the challenger series they have said is that the Challenger Commission will be consulted and will have a strong say in how the pre-regattas work."

From Ryan's point of view as someone attempting to raise funds for GBR Challenge not only are the added pre-regattas good news but ACM's attempt to try and pull the event together as a whole is too. "Now the America's Cup brand has three parts to it: Phase one is the build-up of racing in 2004-2006, phase two is the challenger series and phase three the America’s Cup match and they [ACM] want to communicate the America’s Cup brand as one big event as opposed to it just being the match at the end which they have always felt holds it back and has been confusing."

Ryan's recent trip to Valencia increased her view that ACM look set to run a highly professional event. "The money invested into it is good and they have thought about it from a commercial point of view."

A TV deal is in the process of being signed up with the Spanish broadcaster TV-E and this may have formed part of Valencia's bid for the Cup. Once again TV rights are to be sold, but will be sold for coverage.

For the last America's Cup Ryan says six TV deals were done, this time a minimum commitment to broadcast is being stipulated. "So to get the TV rights you have to start coverage in 2004 to cover all the build-up events and commit a minimum number of hours at prime time. So they are saying we will put together a very good value deal if you commit to that coverage." Among the interested parties in Valencia was the BBC who also are pitching to become host broadcaster for the event.

ACM have already carried out research into the scale of the task that lies ahead in terms of marketing the America's Cup. Over a 10,000 strong sample the survey showed there was 70% brand recognition for the America's Cup - however many didn't know it was a sailing event! Of the people who do follow the event - 10% are active sailors while 55% have never sailed.

The four year lead up should allow Valencia to make much more of the event than Auckland was able to. While the America's Cup is estimated to have brought 1.3 million overseas visitors to Auckland, Valencia is anticipating 10 million over the course of the four years.

At present there is a frenzy of activity. This is obviously the time when the challengers need the maximum amount of information and answers, definitive projections of media statistics, details of television deals etc in order to help them raise sponsorship. Conversely it is also the time when ACM have the least answers.

A follow-up meeting is to be held in Valencia in February. Prior to this on 15 December ACM will send prospective campaigns the Challenger Terms. "This lays out to everyone what the rules are of being a challenger and thereafter you can enter and be a challenger," explains Ryan.

Once they have signed on the dotted line, challengers can then join the Challenger Commission. "Last time aside from Prada there were only five seats on this 'board' irrespective of how many challengers there were. This time there will be a seat on this group for every challenger. So that is a useful forum for us all to have a view," says Ryan.