Mike says it is still in play, Jake. Fingers crossed and ever hopeful.

Mike,
Timbo(for example) offered to contact a few people. I am trying to get an clear idea of what he could offer the sponsor in return for dollars/sails/boats? I have read many differing views and I am not sure which is correct.
I read thru the list from the link and it looks like watches, appearal, sunglasses, insurance, shoes, whisky(or is this any alcholic beverage), and safty gear is off the list for additional money. Did I miss anything?

who's got the marketing slick (showing potential viewers, buyers, participants)? Is it realistic in terms of actual demographics?

Not a marketing guy myself, but if I were, I'd wonder what my ROI would be advertising to self-proclaimed "cheapskate rebels".... Which is odd when you look at the price of new boats these days... hardly cheap

I'm glad you brought it up!

We need to do some self funding. I'll kick in $100 if at least 50 others will match it.

orphan: The remarks from Timbo looked to me like sarcasm. If he really meant that he would contact Oracle and Jimmy Buffet, I apologize for not picking up on that. BTW, do you have a real name?

The online list is the only list that I am aware of, in terms of who we cannot conflict with. Having said that, we have to work with US Sailing to ensure that we do not do anything that would harm the existing relationships with the championship series partners (meaning, Hooters and Viagra would probably not fly, even though a bunch of folks here will probably make the argument that they share the same demographics as Rolex).

Jay, I would defer to Bert to answer how he and his team are currently approaching potential sponsors.

Anyone who truly wants to help get sponsors should go to Bert.

Pete, I love your idea, and it's right in line with one of the ideas I gave to Jack (and others) as far back as October: There are lots of ways to raise this money. I would be the second $100. Now, we just need 48 more!

I have it directly from Jack that stickers on the boats are definitely an option, but we have to work with US Sailing to ensure that we don't harm the relationship with Rolex and the others. Those partners provide a lot more to the overall championship series (and US Sailing itself) than the money that is provided to our event budget. I am aware that some of you can't see past the dollar amount of the donation, and that is your right. Just know that you will never be happy with that attitude because this is just the reality of the situation and it will not change (unless the committee decides to sever relations with Rolex, which is not very likely).

Mike

In the end, if cats have a spiffy regatta we will have to fund it ourselves. I've no problem with that. It's just a matter of getting people to feel good about it.

Anyone around from CRAW? You folks did a heck of a job up in Racine a couple of years ago. How did you do it?

http://www.thecongressionalcup.com/live-feed/daily-live-video/

What are the costs involved with this level of production?

so entering a points series for a certain fee annually could help defray the cost of the final round whereby the champions are determined? That seems much easier than beg/borrow/steal for sponsorship... But isn't that why we pay USS dues in the first place?

You can see I'm totally lost on this, but since I won't have to worry about winning the Alter Cup anytime soon, I haven't given it too much thought.

The USS mandate is to promote Olympic sailing. That immediately leads to a complex debate I'm not willing to be part of.

I think a better line of reasoning would be to examine how USS deals with other championships. For instance how much, if any, does USS contribute towards the Snipes (assuming they have a national championship). Why does USS have a multihull championship if there is no dingy or keel boat championship?

There are dinghy and keelboat championships:

US Junior Women's Singlehanded (Leiter in Radials)
US Junior Women's Doublehanded (Ida Lewis in 420a)
US Disabled Championships
Rolex International Womens Keelboat Championship (J22s)
US Junior Championships (ladder event: Laser, 420, triple-handed)
US Womens Match Race
US Offfshore Championship (Navy 44)
US Team Racing Championship (Hinman, V15)
US Youth Championship (Resume Invitational: Laser, Radial, 420, 29er)
US Youth Multihull
Championship of Champions
US Singlehanded (Ladder event: Laser)
US Match Racing (ladder event)
US Multihull (Alter)
US Mens and Womens Championships (Ladder event: small keelboat)

http://championships.ussailing.org/

So how does the funding work for each event?

Do they use "Borrowed Boats" in all of those? I think they do. I've got no problem with using borrowed boats, as long as they are insured, but then you get into the "tuning and condition" debate, ie. are all the boats equal in speed? And would you still rotate the boats, or just get twice as many and let each team tweak their boat to their weight? Maybe spring for a new mainsail for each team, to be given to the boat donator, or sold cheap?

And I was not at all being sarcastic in my earlier post about getting a big name sponsor to back it. I just didn't realize there were already 'rules' about who can and cannot sponsor US Sailing events.

I have zero interest in racing for the Alter Cup, I'm not 'qualified' in any case and never will be, but I WOULD show up to a massive Beach Party type regatta, all classes, then take the winners and let them slug it out on a 'chosen' class boat after the big beach party regatta.

Before I send an email to Jimmy Buffet, (or any other big name sponsor) I've got to have something to offer them for their money, ie. fill up his beach front hotel with -paying- Catamaran sailors for a weekend.

Look at Key West Race Week, see who and how they do it (and I know they had a lot of trouble last year getting a big name sponsor) and do it that way...or like the Heineken regatta, or the Mount Gay regatta.

How come only the Monohulls seem to be able to do it?

It was following the Key West Race Week sh*t storm on SA and it seems it will be a smaller event funded by entry fees.

IF that is to be the source of funding you can either sell a lot of tickets (my choice) or increase the the ticket price.

Not all are borrowed boats. The Hinman is sailed in V15s that are rotated between teams. The Offshore Championship is usually sailed on Navy 44s- not sure what level of tuning is allowed. I believe the Mens and Womens championships are on borrowed boats, usually a big dinghy (lightning, Flying Sidewalk, etc.) or small keelboat (J22, J24, U20). Racers rotate boats to try and eliminate any discrepancies in performance/layout.

The match race events are usually run in club fleets, like the Sonars at NYYC or SPYC. I know this year's match race championships is at Boston Yacht Club in a mixture of club and privately owned Sonars. The boats are matched before the event as closely as possible, and boats are rotated.

The youth and singlehanded events are usually in provided boats, and I believe charter is part of the entry fee. Laser Performance usually provides that lasers and 420s and have been a partner with US Sailing for many years. Those events usually don't rotate boats because it is assumed a bunch of new boats are essentially the same.

Basically, the provided vs. borrowed boats situation depends greatly on the type of event. Match races and team races are almost always in provided boats, but the type of racing makes the specific boat type less critical to the event (team racing in slow boats is a ton of fun- fireflies are a great example). The singlehanded and youth events are usually in charter boats, but I think that has to do with the volume of lasers and 420s available for charter vs. performance cats. I know several dealers (LP, Sturgis, etc.) have large numbers of lasers/420s/29ers that they take to events for charter. That situation is not the case with cats and makes it harder (not impossible) to do a provided boat event.

More CEOs and big buisness types?....

Some of the other championships are BYOB

I think I'd rather pay to sail a series that results in the champion getting some funding toward an Olympic campaign...

But gettting everyone else to do the same would be the struggle which I'm sure USS is very well versed at.

And Timbo is his name-o.

What if the champ is not interested in the Olympics?

Hi Pete, not sure how I missed your post, but anyhow...

Glad you enjoyed Racine 2010. We enjoyed having you What I can say is that it involved a huge team effort over many months from a lot of talented people who really love the sport and were determined to put on the best event we could possibly could. We were also fortunate to have a great location and a great partnership with Racine Yacht Club. Just a shame about the wind that year!

Aside from 2010, Racine has always tended to be more of a regional event than some of our other regattas. This year we are running it over three days, Aug. 10-12 to try to give people traveling farther more justification for making the trip. We would love to have you back!

Not this year but maybe next! I know some of the F16 folks have mentioned Nationals in the area.

I really enjoyed the parties, the Lake (even the fog). Any pictures of the "lightening bug" still around?

Actually I'm sailing with him at Spring Fever I'll ask if he has some pictures. I'm sure I've seen some somewhere