Supersizing

Tim Jeffery speaks to Stephane Kandler about K Challenge's struggle towards the America's CUp

There is something Darwinian about the America's Cup. The weak fall by the wayside; the adaptable survive. And in surviving, there is the opportunity for ambition. This sums up the position of France's K-Challenge.

The chattering classes of the America's Cup world expressed concerns about survivability of the weaker of the 11 challengers, the likes of K-Challenge, Sweden's Victory Challenge, China Team and Italy's +39. What would happen to these after the hard realities of winter? 2006 is the year when the money has to be there for a new boat and even small teams can't dodge the budget hike that a new boat demands.

Well all four are still here though no one is pretending things have got easier. "I am sure K-Challenge will continue all the way through America's Cup 32," says Stephane Kandler unequivocally. "Our intention is to carry on an prove it is possible to enter the top four."

K-Challenge's survival has required it to re-size. It will be a one boat team, not two, and will launch later because of it. But carry on it will is the message from the team.

Certainly those who have followed the sailing business enterprises of Ortwin Kandler and Stephane can see that this father and son team see things through. Even when their radical wingmasted Juan-Kouymoudjian-designed IMS boat was declared illegal mid-way through the 2001 Admiral's Cup, they might have packed their bags and left Cowes but they still persevered by later modifying the boat. And they remained committed high level participants in grand prix sailing.

"We still have the same motivation because we have proven it's possible to be competitive with a small team and a small budget," explains Stephane. "When we decide to do something we always complete it. People of have thought we were doing things that we impossible, like the Mumm 30s in the Tour de France when everyone was against us. I think we have managed to build a brand which is working and a system which is different from other teams."

So what does the new season bring to the French team? "We have learnt a lot from the past year. Our goal is to improve the boat ( the former NZL 60). It is old, but there is still some potential in it and to make our racing more regular on the water. That is the objective for 2006," Kandler adds.

In any America's Cup the Big Dates on the wall planner or in Microsoft Project planning software are Design Freeze, Build Commence, Build Complete, Launch, Introduction to Competition.

Successful teams rarely waiver from their original schedules but if you are a small team, with money issues, expediency rules. Dates are flexible. K Challenge will take a good look at the new boats from ETNZ, BMW Oracle, Luna Rossa and Alinghi which will soon be seen in Valencia before starting constructing their own. The knack is to leave enough time to develop it once she's in the water, a slower process for a small team.

Kandler won't be pinned down on dates. "We are not talking about build slots. As you know, in the America's Cup people don't really talk about what's really going to happen. So, at this stage, we have a contract with builder and a slot but I can't say where, when or whatever."

Bernard Nivelt has about 13 people in the design team. The reality is that the resources and budget available to his team is modest. "We are getting close to the design freeze," says Kandler. "We are almost there and are working on refinements. We may also look at the new boats in Southern Hemisphere first and also the boats arriving in Valencia in March. We have had some people in Auckland, as you can imagine. New Zealand people are very much involved in the America's Cup so I think every team has somebody there."

Over the winter, Kandler has had slim down his team. He has had to cut the budget and somehow minimise any sacrifices. "If I am honest it is very hard to find the sponsorship all in one set. So we have to wise on the budget side. There have bee reductions, not major, but some people were offered the choice of to go or to stay."

K Challenge in 2006 will number about 50, a reduction of 10 or so. Probably the most high profile departure was that of Kiwi Cameron Appleton. Unusually for a small outfit, K Challenge offered long term contracts.

"All our team was hired through to 2007 so apart from those leaving, nothing has changed for the rest," says Kandler. "We were still aiming to have a two boat operations but we realise it won't be possible to achieve that goal. So we will be a smaller team and will hire extra people when we need them."

K Challenge will move into its base in Port America's Cup soon which is a story in itself.

Kandler had sought to make the budget go further by operating out of Gandia, along the coast from Valencia, for 2004/5. Facilities in Valencia will be better, but in Gandia the French team benefited by being an attraction all on their own. Being associated with a competing Spanish town has created the perception that K Challenge were 'on the wrong side of the tracks'.

"The politics have been quite interesting too," admits Kandler. He cites one example. "The challengers wanted to sail another race in 2005 and we proposed something with Gandia but there were a few political issues. This was a shame since Gandia is part of the Valencian Community. We think it's a pity but didn't want this to become a big issue. Gandia has shown a lot of interest and wanted to offer something to the challengers without taking anything out of Valencia. But that's life."

Kandler is very open about explaining just how hard the America's Cup is for the small teams, especially one for which being simply in the Cup is sufficient. However K Challenge wants to be a bigger player. To do this he has to find Euro 10-15 millions from now until the end of the Cup to keep his team afloat. To date, K Challenge's biggest single cash sponsor is the Euro 2 million from DCN, a major naval contractor and key player in Europe's evermore consolidating defence systems industry. K Challenge is also an officially designated 'Equipe de France' by central government. Future benefits might flow from this too.

"The reality is that we have a bare-bones project. We have gold, silver and bronze levels of support we can offer and we have to build up from where we are now. It's not easy and not just for the America's Cup, but for sport in general," Kandler explains. "Companies receive a lot of offers nowadays. They see short term opportunities and take them. Usually it's six months before an event. It makes finding long term support very hard."

K Challenge spent a long time scouting the Cup in Auckland. But has the Cup in Europe and the new three years of competition format brought the benefits to teams that were intended? On the Cup leaving Auckland, Kandler is in no doubt: "Thank God 'it's in Europe. If it wasn't it would probably be worse to raise money."

But what of the revised format? "The Acts, and particularly Trapani, were great but there is always a gap before the market realises that changes have been made to the Cup," says Kandler. "I am 100% for the Acts, but they do demand that you are competitive as soon as possible which takes money. They are good for the long term, they are good for teams to see how they compare with others. And the offer more visibility for sponsors."

Like other observers, Kandler feels the real benefits of the additional racing won't be felt until the 33rd Cup, not the 32nd Cup next year. "We hear all the time speaking to companies that hadn't realised that the Cup had changed. Because of the tradition of the Cup, the changes take a long time to be understood by the public. But from April to June this year, I think people will really see what's going in Valencia."

Ask him if there is one thing that would help broaden the base of Cup participation and Kandler has a fast response: "The major issue is that there are big teams spending too much money. You can't build a business model on those sums for sure," he says. This is the Larry Ellison/Raul Gardini/Bill Koch/whoever are 'neutralising most of the opposition by outspending them' argument.

"We need to downsize budgets. So we need to do everything we can for the next Cup to reduce the costs. Even if you go to a sponsor and talk about the return on investment, just the money involved is crazy. Some sponsors will always say 'how will you win with a smaller budget'. We believe it because we did it in 2005, but the sums of money involved in the Cup are sometimes indecent.

"We have to change the image of the America's Cup. A lot has been managed in a short time, but there is a long way to go. It has to work as business so that teams can go from one edition to another."

A final thought: every team has its own flavour but one thing you notice about K Challenge is a rather high number of British sailors in a French group. Interesting chemistry you might think. "Making the French and Anglo Saxons working together is not easy," says Kandler. "But finally I think the easiest cooperation inside our team is between the French and English, between the Frogs and the Rosbifs!"