Tuesday, December 9, 2008

College Sailing

Did you know that there is a thriving college sport in the US that gets absolutely no media attention? As college football pulls in 12 million dollars per team per BCS bowl, sailing is stuck in the back.
"How come sailing is not an NCAA sport?

The Inter-Collegiate Sailing Association (ICSA) is the governing body of intercollegiate sailing, not the NCAA. Early in the 20th century a group of savvy business types got together and founded an organization purely devoted to competitive sailing at the collegiate level (the Inter-Collegiate Yacht Racing Association). In this manner, sailors ensured that they could govern their own sport rather than some ex-basketball coach who couldn't care less about a bunch of sailors. Most importantly to college sailors, the ICSA hosts the North American championships each year to determine which college is, in fact, #1."

--Straight from collegesailing.org

Now, I'm not saying that the folks over at ICSA have done a bad job of managing the sport. In fact, I believe they have done a terrific job given what they have. Each year the fleets become more competitive and more active.

Unfortunately, 80% of the teams are club teams, receiving little funding from the school and likely with no coaching. Some have volunteer coaches from the yacht club, some have no yacht club at all. Sailing is a very expensive sport for the school to support and it takes in no profits. There are no paying spectators but new boats and sails cost a lot. Not to mention travel. Then you mention that you really only need four people on the team to compete (unlike other large team sports) and the funding drops even more. It's a difficult area to excel.

College sailors race mainly in 420s, Lasers, and FJ's. These are the perfect boats. While many criticize these boats for being underpowered and uninteresting for the sailors, I believe they are simple, cost efficient boats that force sailors to sail strategically. While it would be more fun to sail faster and more dangerous with spins and traps, the costs for programs would skyrocket and new sailor training would take any longer. The budgets of these teams are already stretched and they can't afford to stretch any more.

Many of the top sailors in the country and world have come out of the ICSA program. Many all-americans become future Olympians and even AC drivers. Others give up sailing for a while and then go back to it when they can afford it. But the point is, it is the breeding ground for future sailors, both professional and club level.

Would making the sport apart of the NCAA help the sport? Possibly. I don't think the ICSA would give up the program and I don't think the NCAA wants it but it would certainly help. Monetary support would increase but it might also widen the gap between schools. Many athletic programs would not pick up the sport as apart of their varsity programs and the lingering problems would remain.

A new sailing event could use this talent. It could even restrict its competitors to this age group. Instead of 40 year old million or billionaires, fans could watch young kids battle just like in all the other sports. The drama would be higher, the boats could be faster, and the 18-30 market could be reached much easier. Plus, the racing could go on in the summer and not interfere with classes!

If you attended college or live near one, consider donating to your team. They would most certainly appreciate it or any kind of advice you could give them. Most likely, they would love a monthly coaching session. Too many college sailors graduate and then forget about their college hobby. As the college scene expands, everything above it will expand also.

Monday, December 8, 2008

Southern Ocean is Crowded

I was so excited for this winter to come. Not because I got to break out my new spraytop, but because my favorite race is going on. The Vendee Globe. Ever since I read about the solo circumnavigation I've loved this race. All the way back to when it was called the Golden Globe. But even with 30 skippers on the starting line, only one American has entered. One. This is the pinnacle of Ocean Sailing! The New York Times has an interesting article about the races popularity in France. Of course with only one racer it's hard to spread the races popularity in the states but come on. I was simply shocked to learn that only one American is participating.

A little further south, the Volvo Ocean Race is still going strong. I haven't looked a whole lot at their website and what they have going, but I have listening to their podcast for the past year or so. That should tell you how good they are with connecting to the public. Very nice. They even had some money left over to race in the Extreme 40 series! Also good stuff.

Ocean racing just goes along with what kind of brand I think will sell. Extreme. High Definition. Drama. It's all there. And as you can see, it's flourishing in the foreign markets. So how do we get the race to flourish here? How about adding more American skippers for one thing. What if someone started a race just like the Vendee Globe but that set off from the US? Only United States sailors could enter. Put the start live on TV out of New York or San Francisco and have a weekly recap show with maybe some live interviews. Races like the Vendee globe and VOR already have the equipment to broadcast this information, just not the medium in the US to do it. What company or what person is going to force ESPN or a network to broadcast this stuff? No one. Why? Because they will laugh you out of their office.

No one would watch the Vendee Globe. No one wants to watch the French sail around the world just like they don't want to watch the Russians have another spacewalk. But show little Jimmy from Houston out there in space and then you've got something. Returning national pride and interest to sailing is something that would jumpstart the AC's US interests and other programs. The problem is, these organizations don't care that they are losing out on the US because they can do so well in Europe. But I think they are missing a HUGE market.

The cable sports program was born here. Reality TV was born here. Fantasy football was born here. If there is ever a sports hungry market, it's the US.

Someone...one day will make it happen.

Sunday, November 23, 2008

The America's Cup

*Disclaimer* Obviously at this time there is so much legal crap surrounding that AC that any discussion of its merits should involve these topics, yet, mine will not.

The AC is the prized glory of all sailors. In fact, in the movie "Wind" (the best attempt at a popular movie about racing that I know of) the plot is based on the lure of this trophy. But it seems that since the 80's, the cup has lost popular attention in the US. But why? Well that's a pretty easy question. There is no American team. While BMW Oracle claims to be an American team, it is sponsored by BMW (not American) and has a non-American crew. Now, I'm not anti-everyone else as some "patriots" are, but I believe that in some respects, you have to remain strict. BMW Oracle is a fine campaign, but it is never going to rally the American people. The problem is, they don't care. As long as they can keep the sponsors happy, any extra support is icing on the cake.

Many people have suggested that the AC return to a competition between nations. But there is a problem to this, and also the reason they changed the rule. Not every country is equal. Even with billions of dollars, it would be difficult for Egypt to put together a citizen team and compete with the Kiwis. It's just a fact. But with billions of dollars and no citizenship rule, they can buy out all the Kiwis and win! You see this way, more money and sponsors can enter the scene.

The way I see it is, if you can increase the popularity of the AC to the public, you don't have to worry about having huge sponsors because they will come flocking! Sponsors originate from people seeing their advertisements. So instead of trying to sign more sponsors, why not invest that labor into finding more ways to get more viewers! Change the rules if you have to so that the AC returns to being popular.

It's so cool to see the spinnakers in the Olympics because they are the flags of their countries. Imagine seeing that on an AC boat. Instead of the US team flying a big BMW kite, it would but a beautiful USA flag.

There's a reason that in the NFL, they don't wear advertisements on their jerseys, they don't have to. They have so many fans already that they don't have to worry so much about the sponsors wanting more advertising space. They have found more subtle ways to introduce the advertising. Naming the stadiums, having tons of commercials, sponsoring the "first down line", etc. But the sport itself isn't suffocated with corporate advertising as sailing is.

But there are some sports that are also saturated with marketing. Look at European football (soccer). There jerseys have ads on them. Why can't sailboats? Because sailboats are meant to be named beautiful names. Not corporation names. These giant syndicates and race heads need to find more subtle ways to introduce the sponsors into the AC.

You don't hear about "Courageous" anymore or the other incredible boats. It has all been bought out.

So is the AC lost forever to the US market? Of course not. But more Americans need to be involved in the process and they can't be afraid to market and advertise their teams to the American public. They need to have brave, interesting skippers like Dennis Conner again who would die for the cup, not die for more money.

The heart of the AC used to be passion for sailing, but as of late it seems to be simply a passion for money.

Saturday, November 15, 2008

Round the World Racing

I love ocean racing. It is my dream to one day race around the world. I, like perhaps many of you, have sat at home for hours figuring out the finances of starting a mini (the boat) campaign. Of course, this will probably never happen. But wow, these races are incredible.

Unfortunately, like all things sailing, they are hard to spectate. Being 3000 miles offshore doesn't help either. Equipment failures and weather keeps from live transmissions being broadcast. But at the same time, it is extremely easy to follow. There aren't any complex rules to follow, the boats simply go fast and find wind. The main problem is, they are slow. Although the boats move at incredible speeds, the races themselves last for months! What a difficult proposition.

The boats are what keeps me coming back for more. They are, first of all, gorgeous. The incredible graphics and shapes of these machines are amazing. Then there's the speed. I figure the top speed I've gone on a sailboat is 14 knots or so. I can't imagine going 30 or more! Much less 3000 miles from land in essentially a hurricane. These guys are the real deal.

I do believe that these races present an excellent opportunity for sponsors, especially the ones with multiple ports (VOR). But, there are very limited opportunities for US sponsors. You won't see even a commercial featuring offshore sailing in the US. My thinking is, how is a whale splashing around or a talking head more attractive to an audience than your name on an insanely cool offshore racing sailboat. It is classy, professional, and fun. I saw a BMW commercial online two years back featuring their AC boat and it was very cool looking. Why not broadcast those? I understand they've expensive to shoot but when you already have the footage, use it!

One day we'll see a well done ocean campaign or race, one that includes heavy United States publicity. Just not right now.

Monday, October 27, 2008

ASL Video

Well, good work from the ASL team. They are getting some strides in the right direction. I would love to meet those guys and give them a couple of ideas but what they've got is great. Probably the main concern of any sailing broadcast is what market to aim the broadcast at. You can market it toward sailors with limited background information on the logistics of the sport and ignore new viewers or you can market the broadcast toward new viewers. Of course, this bores the experienced sailors. But the thing is, you can have both.

The "old" sailors are going to watch the broadcast either way. At this point in sailings "career" in the mass media experienced sailors aren't going to turn off a broadcast targeted towards a beginner audience. You might as well target the show toward new viewers. This gets you both audiences.

The ASL is the only organization that I know of doing this kind of work and they simply do a great job. Keep up the good work friends!

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

American Sailing League Video

Well the ASL has finally posted their first "production"? video about their championship regatta this summer. I haven't had time yet to watch it (yet I have the time to post on this blog) but I'm very excited. It will be a good thing to show people and get their reaction of a similar weekly series like this event. Would they watch it? Ever? From what I've flipped through, they did very nice work all around. Very cool camera views and angles. I look forward to watching it and letting you know what I think.

Sunday, August 10, 2008

Nationwide Sailing Part III

The Spectating

The way the fans view the sport is what is strangling sailing. The thing is, it's a shame. Where baseball might flourish in a radio market, sailing would suffer. It is a visually appreciated and understand sport. This is what is so confusing. Nowadays with HD TVs and the gorgeous landscapes of sailing, you would figure it would be an easy sell in this market.

Unfortunately, sailing is not easy to video. You can't just set a camera on the bleachers and capture most of the action. A helicopter is almost a necessity. Besides that you need in boat cameras and multiple on the water applications. It's a very expensive project.

The other problem is that sailing is impossible to view adequately from shore. Unless the races are held within 50 yards or so of a high platform, you might as well be asleep. This in my opinion is the biggest problem facing the marketability of our sport. As great as it would look on TV, you have to draw in the locals. Of course, many have tried with carnivals, games, and even free booze but the truth is they never come for the sailing.

I only see one way to fix that problem. Check out my first post about an indoor sailing arena with artificial wind and grandstands of spectators. Of course, I don't plan to ever see this in my lifetime but in my opinion that is still the perfect situation.

As I've said before, the best regattas I've watched in person have been ones where the sailing came within 20 yards of me or so. This happened once at a collegiate regatta and it was incredible. The gybe mark was 20 yards from the 2 story dock-house and everyone could see/hear/feel the action! Of course this is almost impossible in most venues for many reasons. First of all, you set the course in the middle of the lake for a reason, no effects on the wind. A giant spectator dock would have disastrous effects on the wind if not in the perfect location. Second, not all areas have a perfectly situated viewing platform. In fact probably close to none.

So, how can you attract local viewers to gain support? I have a couple of ideas. :)

1) Spectator Platforms. I'm going to go way past the elite yacht owners who park their second homes next to the racecourse to bask in the light of our glorious sport! Let's anchor some big platforms out near the marks and start for some close up action! A "ferry" boat could travel back and forth to transport the fans

2) Other events. I stated before that it isn't a great idea but it does work. Incorporate the racing into an already popular location (as the American Sailing league did) or host a popular event during or after the racing. Family carnivals and such are great events and usually draw a lot of hungry fans.

3) Commentators/Televisions. If possible, have a designated "race-viewing" area with information on the boats/races/sport and have a commentator explaining what's going on and everything sailing related. If possible, some sort of live television shots would be incredible. I already discussed how difficult this is and the thought of broadcasting them live and wirelessly back to the shore hurts my brain and wallet. Nevertheless, perhaps a zoom camera on a hill or high spot with a great vantage point could be used. Perhaps a shot from the committee boat, maybe some in boat cameras? Something to give a good view.

4) Sell more than sailing. As I discussed in the "The Sailors" section, sports fans are interested in more than just the sport. Try and let everyone know who's favored to win and who's the underdog. Imagine going to a horse race without knowing any of the stat lines or backstorys. It would be very boring. If there's advertising, in addition to the basic ads (YEAH, SAILING!) try and include an interesting story about one of the boats/sailors. Perhaps a very young crew or a very good crew, this is what the sport desperately needs.

Perhaps one day a major network will have a weekly sailboat race broadcast with gorgeous shots of spinnakers flying and great drama but it's not going to start out that way. The local interest, the media interest will come. Can you imagine if you got a couple of thousand sports fans to show up to a regatta? You don't think ESPN would cover that?

Unfortunately no one has found out a way to have thousands of people show up to a regatta without giving away free cars and then, is it really a regatta?

Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Nationwide Sailing Part II

The Boats

This is one of sailing's biggest pitfalls. Simply put, if you compare every other successful sport in the US to sailing there is one major difference. Accessibility. You can play every other game at home with your friends. Football, baseball, soccer, hockey, basketball. Even the tougher ones like golf, and even, ultimate frisbee are all easier to sell than sailing because you can do them in your backyard. Now, we all know that you can practically just as easily become a crew on someone's boat at your local club but you get the idea.

Imagine if I was trying to get you to watch my new sport. Hovercraft racing. You simply don't relate. You've never been on a hovercraft much less driven one. But when you watch even NASCAR, you've driven a car before and you can imagine how difficult it would be.

This is where sailing lags. Not everyone in the US has sailed before. The first time I told my grandfather (longtime football coach and sports fan) about my sailing interest he admitted he had never been on a sailboat and thusly had zero interest in the matter.

This is why ideally I would like for someone to develop high performance, professional quality, fast, extreme racing machines that are accessible to every middle class americans pocketbook. Of course this will never happen but I see some compromises.


First of all, I think that skiffs are the way to go. I like the idea of keeping the amount of crew down. Plus, capsizes are exciting. Big 100 foot sailboats with 30 crew might be equally exciting, but it's just too much money and adds to the inaccessibility of the sport. Skiffs are cheap (comparatively) and are extremely exciting. They are easy to move around and are faster than any mono-hull. I don't hate the idea of cats but I just think that skiffs are easier to understand.

Now this is against what I've been saying. That the boats push the sport away from the common American. How many 18 foot skiffs do you see at your local club? Probably zero. They are still making their way into the US and are still expensive. I believe that you are going to have to set the market on fire. Similar to how the current SB3 campaign is flooding the market. As far as I know there is not a US 18 foot skiff builder. But if you created an interest for them (as a subsidiary like the ASL might), then a builder would be able to open up shop in the US.

Then, if you follow what I've been teaching, skiffs would be the hottest boat ever to hit the US market and the sales would skyrocket. Propelled by the nationwide circuit and local yacht club support, everyone would want a skiff. Starting lines would be crowded as yacht clubs try to raise money and teams to send to competitions. Sounds great doesn't it? But the truth is, it's been done before. Well, I should say, tried before. Just about every single one-design sailboat tries to fit this role. Being the greatest boat ever in it's market and hopefully the only boat on the water. It's simply a great idea.

But it never works. Not because the boats aren't great, but because the market is too confusing. There's the laser, then the 420, then the gennaker skiffs, then the J/22s, then the Melges, then... . I could go on and on. The point is, there is no single sailing market. No one boat can ever dominate the entire market. Now I would say in the US, if you're looking for a one person high performance boat, the laser is it. It's probably the most popular racing boat in the country (excluding perhaps the sunfish). So why aren't there laser regattas every week and storybook dramas unfolding from our tvs on summer sundays? Good question. To be fair, there are a lot of laser regatta. Local, statewide, and even nationwide. But they certainly don't gather much attention. Most active sailors don't even follow them. But why? I'll tell you why...in a later series. :)

But back to the boats, you can't blame the laser for it's lack of media and public attention. It has succeeded beyond belief. So is there room for skiffs or some new designed boat in the US market? Yes. In fact, the market is begging for a boat to win this niche. The melges 24 have tried, the SB3 are sprinting and it seems as though Vanguard (or Laser Performance) comes out with a new gennaker boat every 6 months. There are hundreds of options.

A skiff rollout combined with heavy marketing and a nationwide professional circuit could be just what is needed to win. You could attract current sailors, ex college sailors, joe-schmo and the "extreme" younger generation everyone is always talking about. If the boat is available either for purchase or for experimentation through yacht clubs, I believe the whole thing is simply propelled.

You didn't think I was going to get this complicated did you? You thought I was just going to praise the skiffs for being so...non-boring. Well you're right, they are. But it is going to take so much more than that to bring the sport to the mainstream. The boats (and the sport) have to become accessible to the normal guy. You can't just go out in the backyard and sail around for 10 minutes with your buddies like you can with football, baseball, and 90% of the other popular sports.

If sailing is going to make a stand, the boats are going to have to be the feet.

Monday, July 14, 2008

American Sailing League

I recently discovered this organization and was pleasantly suprised. It seems they beat me to it. This is almost exactly the type of event I've been wanting to organize!
San Francisco Chronicle Story
I found out about the ASL before the event and was curious from the get go. It seems they have a great start to a successful annual event. They have alot of the necessary components to a successful sailing event:
-Exciting Boats
-Excellent spectator viewing
-Pre-populated area for guaranteed spectators

I'm not entirely sure the media coverage they were able to get but for a first time event it seemed rather successful from my perspective (thousands of miles away).

Check out their website for more information and some GREAT pictures.

I really just wonder what their growth plan is. Obviously with the name, "American Sailing League" they plan to make the event nationwide. I just wonder how. I thought about this a lot today and would like to present some of my ideas.

I have a lot to say and am going to present it in sort of a series of how I see a nation wide sailing circuit running. This type of circuit would be designed to appeal to the average american sports fan and would not be a niche sport. Today's segment:

THE SAILORS
Obviously this is the soul of the sport. In the past (and present), the individual sailors in sailing events have rarely been publiczed. Why? Mainly because there is not much of a story to tell. Sailors are typically well of, well educated, and good looking. This is marketable!! For example, I recently was following the Transatlantic Race and was interested because I like ocean racing but not particularly interested. Then a couple of weeks after the race I saw a video that highlighted some of the sailors and their history. After that I really wished I would have followed it more! I knew who was favored to win, who won it last year, etc. Unfortunately, sailors are typically nice to each other but you can still create drama. For example, when Spithill and Coutts race each other in RC44 events and especially match racing I get excited because they are on the same team, etc. Also, when Larry Ellison raced against Allinghi in some event I was excited. If you can sell these types of backgrounds on the sailors, they will be a lot more interesting. For example, if two sailors are previous college sailors, talk about their head to head races and emphasize their wins and losses. Try and find drama between the sailors or in the individual sailors lives and tell their stories. The fans will appreciate it and so will the sponsors. The sport needs some recognizable names so create some!

Also, they sailors need to be local. They need to represent their teams. If you start shipping in all of these down under sailors it's not exactly an "American" event. I know this is where most of the good skiff sailors are and you shouldn't necessarily exclude them but it needs to be dealt with. In America, sports are localized. I don't know of another country where college sports are just as big as the pro sports. Why? Because of the school spirit. If you can create city spirit and team spirit then you can create fans. You will not have corporation spirit. No one will root for Team Sprint every time. But they will root for and watch Team San Fran or a particular sailor every year. This is why you have to sell the sailors and the local teams.

I would prefer for the sailors to be amateur athletes. In my Texas circuit idea, the sailors are all college/just out of college and not professionals. Partly this is because there are not that many professional sailors and their aren't a lot from each city. For example if a city or yacht club wanted to create a team they couldn't afford to pay 3-4 professional sailors and a coach to stay in the city and train or compete. But a large yacht club could use their existing coaches to train a team of locals. This would add some excitement I believe because the younger sailors will likely have less of a "storied" background as the professionals but there are some drawbacks. The younger sailors will be less skilled, likely have other commitments, and will be harder to sell to some sponsors. A professional sailor is much safer for a company to invest in.

If these conditions are met, I believe the event itself will be much more successful. Right now it seems that many events focus a lot of solely on the boat and not the crew for the reasons I've stated. But with my idea (skiff sailing) there is a small crew so it is easier to focus on the sailors themselves. Fans want to connect with the sailors, not the boats.

Wednesday, April 23, 2008

Volvo Ocean Race

Anyone else wondering if the Volvo will actually fulfill what it hopes? I want a great round the world solo race, but all I see is corporate sponsorships galore. Why can't they make it about the sailors and not about the ports and the companies. I suppose sailing needs more interesting sailors. They need to recruit some convicts. That'll make things interesting. Maybe then at least there will be something worth watching instead of simply sailing.

Thursday, February 7, 2008

The Sport of Sailing


Whenever I think about sailing, I think about how to improve it. Let's face it, sailing is not a major sport(in the US). Why not? Well, it's just not appealing, accessable, interesting, exciting, expensive, etc. You can't go in the backyard and just tack the boat around for a few minutes with friends. I think one of the main problems with marketing sailing to non-sailors is how they can watch it. Watching a sailing race from shore is one of the most boring things I can image. Especially since most races are at least a couple of hundred yards offshore. Ok then, go on a boat. Well, this is both expensive(unless you own a boat), but you still get a bad vantage point. It's difficult to explain the racecourse from a boat. Ok, TV! Helicopters, planes, satellites! Well, yes. But then you're not even there. You're not involved. You don't feel the wind. It's just not the same. Plus, the course is still hard to understand. So how do you make it easy for everyone to understand and enjoy? Enter my brilliant idea. I got this idea from the London Boat Show where they had windsurfing races/jumps indoors. It was pretty cool. So I started thinking, how cool would it be to sail indoors? That's the genius to marketing sailing to the masses. But then I took it a step further.


Imagine a baseball field like arena, full with water. Sailboats race a course around the bases with controlled wind, waves, etc. This way, fans could watch the race from a great viewpoint, height, location, comfort. The course would be easy to understand, and the regatta could be held any day of the week, any time of day! Especially now that they are putting roofs on these fields, anything is possible. Imagine having an indoor skiff race in a 20 knot breeze while outside it's dead calm, or outside it's stormy. Now, I understand that this is completely impossible. The engineering, the financial cost, etc. But wow, wouldn't that be fun. Anyway, that's my solution to the sailing markering delima. What do you think?