great deal of information. Only then will we consider starting actual negotiations. SH: One of the things that Knut Frostad said some years ago was that many of the potential stopover ports have a practical limit of not much more than 10 boats. Beyond that the logistical problems are simply too difficult… RB: I am sure it is a consideration, but currently we treat that as a positive problem to deal with when we have to deal with it. But I agree that in some cases, of course, it could be a genuine problem. That said, it is not difficult to understand why there remains strong interest in hosting the race. Look at Itajaí, it was 250,000 visitors
the first time we went there but the third time that number grew to 455,000 visitors. The interest is growing. Overall we plan to be announcing stopovers in mid-2019 and confirm the new course before the end of that year. SH: The next race starts in October 2021? RB: 2021, yes, the exact month I don’t know. But going to 2021 was obvious because 2019 is clearly too soon. 2020 is not good for the sport or the sailors because we collide with other events; that’s important and in future we want to co- ordinate our event more closely with World Sailing. Then it is either a three-year cycle as it is now or a four-year cycle to stay one away from the Olympic year. But what is at least as important is to
Close enough to be one-design (which of course they weren’t) America’s Cup sailing hits the Whitbread Race in 1997 as Paul Cayard’s EF Language starts leg 1 to weather, going on to comfortably win the race overall. EF Language was one of two Whitbread 60s managed by Richard Brisius, Johan Salén and Atlant – the new owner of the Volvo Race. When Cayard was brought in late to skipper the winning entry he wasted no time rustling up good America’s Cup sailors and asking the wonderful Magnus Olsson to (successfully) help him to inculcate into them the mysteries of staying out after dark
the experts of the Imoca world to iron that out in the best way. And, yes, we want to have OBRs, and we
want to keep up the drive for more women in the race. When we were running the SCA campaign that was our big drive, to bring women back into the race. This is a fantastic race and everyone should be able to sail it whether you are a man or a woman. It’s inspiring for women and men around the world to see this happening and it reflects our company and our society as a whole. SH: Is the problem of growing the fleet the economic climate or the boats? RB: The economic climate is good. The global sponsorship market has been grow- ing every year over a long period. It is taking a larger and larger slice of market- ing budgets. Meanwhile, global companies are also growing… and also taking more and more of the market. If you look around the high streets you see the same brands everywhere, so the need for global marketing platforms is only increasing. I’ve spent time with the Welsh govern-
ment and Cardiff council during this stop, and they tell me this stopover generated significant economic impact. For Wales this is bigger than the Champions League final, they said. That’s the nature of this race, the direct value it brings is enormous.
54 SEAHORSE Above all, the future success of this
event will not be decided by choice of boats. We just need to have a well-func- tioning boat that is fun to sail and race; you invest two years into this if you are a sailor so there must be some enjoyment. But the focus is to create a business model
that works for the teams. The problem is not the race. The problem is the teams, and I could argue that the one-design, as it has turned out, has not created a better business model for the teams as it has not become easier to get teams into the race. Investment has gone down. It hasn’t been the one solution that suddenly turned the thing around. We haven’t had 10 or 15 boats queuing up to do it. It hasn’t happened. SH: Going back into the Southern Ocean this time was a very popular move for the sailors. But in the future will commercial realities take you back more into the Middle East and Asia? RB: We should keep the Southern Ocean. It’s a core part of the race, for sure, and it always has been; in 2008 we went away from that going up to India and Asia. But the choice of the stopovers them-
selves is now quite complex; we have gone out to 60 cities already to ask who is inter- ested. First you make an expression of interest with them and then we look for a
run events more regularly to allow a viable business model for the teams. That’s what’s going to happen between 2021 and the following race. There are various ideas around, but if we go down the Imoca route then there are already some races that as a team you can put into your calendar and so create a more sustainable model. We would also probably look at joining
forces with Imoca and creating another big all-new event between the round-the- world races to add further value. The key is to build the round-the-world race into the pinnacle event that it should be. SH: And the race funding? RB: We have already secured all the funding needed to secure the next race cycle operating at the current level for both commercial activities and race manage- ment. The overall funding model is partly based upon race partners, partly from teams and entry fees and of course from host cities. Another requirement is to stay at the forefront of sustainability. That’s the beauty of the new model of the race: we can steer it and set the strategy to create the best event for the sport of sailing while helping make the world a better place. But we must never forget that this is a
world-class sporting event and never compromise that. In terms of ocean racing there is much more competition out there from rival events than was the case in the days of the Whitbread Race; we have to accept that but then work hard to secure our position… Richard Brisius was talking to Rob Kothe
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