Why Can't the Sailor's Get Sponsors?

It wasn't too long ago that the sailing world became really excited about the allowabliity of sponsorship. "There were cries of "...this will really make sailing a big popular sport – TV, Radio and major media coverage."
Then reality hit. It was nearly impossible to get any of the major corporations to even listen to a sponsorship proposal. So, the proprietorship-type business was the only chance. And they don't have any big bucks to spend.
The allowance of advertising has not been very helpful. Although, you have to look at the Whitbread Races and wonder. Obviously there is some really big sponsorship money involved there – with major corporations.
In contrast, the Worrell 1000 is far more interesting, exciting and far more accessible than the Whitbread, but can only get handfuls of small sponsors to help out. Looking at the writing on the sails of these Worrell cats is like looking at movie credits at the end of film. There can be a lot of them, but most may only donate small quantities – perhaps even so small that it barely covers the cost of the lettering.
Many of the so-called sponsors are not sponsors at all. Rather they often are the racer's own business. What the heck, if you can't find someone to help out, at least get your own message out there.
But who knows. Michael Worrell has bigger and better plans for next year and has been working diligently to get TV coverage. If that happens, all of the racers should benefit – TV coverage automatically causes more interest on the part of advertisers.