America’s Cup and Louis Vuitton Cup Sailing

BMW Oracle Racing today became the first America’s Cup team to start a 2005 full-scale two-boat testing programme on the Mediterranean waters off the coast of Valencia, Spain, site of the 32nd America’s Cup. The Challenger of Record launched their ‘turbo-charged’ Version 5 boats, USA-71 and USA-76, in Valencia last week for structural tests and instrument calibration in preparation for the start of its two-boat sailing season today from the Real Club Nautico.

BMW Oracle Racing, returning to Valencia for its second year of full-time sailing operations, is embarking on three months of training and testing in the lead-up to the next Louis Vuitton Acts in Valencia in June.

The team’s 2003-generation race yachts underwent major modifications over the winter months in Valencia to meet the so-called Version 5 design rules. The modified boats have been ‘turbo-charged’ with more downwind sail area and one tonne less weight in the keel. USA-76 suffered significant damage last year following a severe storm that blew it and two other teams’ race yachts out of their cradles following Louis Vuitton Act 1 in Marseille. Last week marked the first time USA-76 returned to the water since that September accident.

BMW Oracle on road to ACC

Sedro-Woolley, Anacortes to play roles in building boat for 2007 America’s Cup

An entry for the 2007 America’s Cup — international yacht racing’s Holy Grail — will be built in Skagit County by BMW Oracle Racing.

The mold for the sleek, 80-foot sloop will be constructed at Janicki Industries in Sedro-Woolley and the high-tech hull will be built of composite materials in Anacortes.

BMW Oracle Racing — the new incarnation of 2003 America’s Cup contender Oracle Racing — said Thursday that it plans to lease a 20,000-square-foot industrial building in Anacortes which currently houses North Island Boat Co.

Quest for yachting’s Holy Grail will sail through Skagit County

The Hauraki Gulf in Auckland was reacquainted with America’s Cup racing yesterday when NZL81 took on German stablemate NZL68 in the first of Team New Zealand’s inhouse races.

The racing gives the crews a chance to brush up on their skills before the first of this year’s pre-regattas in June but its main purpose is to gauge the boats’ performance.

“We’re testing hulls, bulbs, keels, rudders, rigs, big ticket items, before we start to fine down, which won’t really happen till next year,” managing director Grant Dalton said.

“We are still testing the hull shape of the German boat (NZL68) against the hull shape of NZL81. They are similar boats in some ways, which is quite good because now we have checked in there and we can start switching bulb, rudders and so on.”

Team New Zealand’s summer training began in December when they launched the former illbruck boat, now NZL68, which is a similar shape to the Alinghi and Oracle boats.

Since then it has been put through vigorous testing against NZL81, the training boat from the last cup.

“Structurally both boats have been fine,” Dalton said.

“We have given them absolute hell, we have had no breakages.”

Team NZ hit Hauraki Gulf

Denmark’s double Olympic champion Jesper Bank has been chosen to skipper Germany’s Team Fresh in the 2007 America’s Cup in Valencia in 2007. “It’s a dream job,” said the 47-year-old Bank on Monday. “I’ll be in charge of everything, including the choice of team and training,” he told a press conference here. Team Fresh Seventeen, which has a budget of around 50 million euros, aims to make it through to the final against Swiss holders Alinghi. Discussing his prospective team choice Bank said he wanted some sailors with previous experience of the event. “I want to find five professional teammates who if possible already have experience in the America’s Cup,” said Bank, whose contract runs till 2011 when the Germans hope they will win the trophy. One of these, he hinted, would be Jann Neergaard, who was part of the Alinghi team that won yachting’s most prestigious prize in 2003. Bank was skipper aboard Swedish team Victory Challenge which finished fifth to Alinghi.

Sweden’s Victory Challenge has become the eighth challenger to compete for the America’s Cup in 2006/07.

Founded in 2001 by Swedish media and telecom tycoon Jan Stenbeck, Victory reached the quarter-finals last time.

The Swedish bid will be fronted by Hugo Stenbeck, son of Jan, who died just before the 2002 America’s Cup started.

Silicon Valley billionaire Larry Ellison’s syndicate is cash flush, with a preferred position on the starting line. His local rival, John Sweeney, is holding a sailor’s tin cup, hoping to give the database tycoon a race for his megabucks.

BMW Oracle Racing, funded by Ellison and German automaker BMW, is prepared to ante up nearly $200 million to win the 32nd America’s Cup, to be held in Valencia, Spain, in the summer of 2007. The team has already spent a fortune to secure some of the world’s finest pro sailors.

Sweeney, a former grinder for Ellison’s team in the 2003 America’s Cup trials, hopes to raise a shoestring budget of $65 million for his Sausalito Challenge, a wild card to win the oldest trophy in sport. The die-hard Tiburon sailor held an auction on EBay last year to lure potential sponsors. His team is the first to offer a full-fledged crew slot on its racing boat to a celebrity — who brings lots of cash.

First comes a furious duel for big bucks But Tiburon sailor thinks he can succeed with less money

The Alinghi sailing team are making an early move in their defence of the America’s Cup by setting up a permanent base in the Spanish port of Valencia more than two years before the competition begins.

The team from landlocked Switzerland, who became the first European winners of world yachting’s biggest prize in 2003, said on Thursday the move to Valencia would be completed by March 15, with sails due to be raised on April 4.

Alinghi expects to have 96 members of its 110-strong team in place by that date, with family members also provided for at the Valencia base.

Alinghi make early move to Valencia

A new player is set to join the America’s Cup fray for 2007.

A Chinese investor has launched a pioneering $64 million bid for the Auld Mug.

China Team is joining forces with the former French America’s Cup team Le Defi to take part in the 2007 event.

The syndicate is planning to copy Team Alinghi’s model for success, by drafting in top class foreign sailors for the challenge.

It will be the first time China has been involved in yachting’s most prestigious regatta.

The hulls of the new race boats will be built in high-tech area in state of Washington

BMW ORACLE Racing, the international professional sailing team that is Challenger of Record for the oldest trophy in sports, the America’s Cup, will build the hulls of the team’s new high-tech race boats for the 2007 sailing competition in the greater Seattle, Washington area.

As an American entry representing San Francisco’s Golden Gate Yacht Club, the team is bound by the rules to build the hull of the new racing yachts in the United States. The boats will ultimately race in Valencia, Spain, which is the site of the 32nd Americas Cup in 2007. “The Seattle area’s aerospace and maritime heritage and resources make it the ideal location to build many of the components for such high-tech racing yachts,” said Chris Dickson, CEO BMW ORACLE Racing. “We plan to utilize local technology and resources where possible to support our in-house team of experts. In our 2003 campaign, we had great results when we built many of the components in the Seattle area and we hope we can repeat that success.”

Due to the competitive nature of the America’s Cup, much of the boat-building plans will remain under wraps until later this year. The team confirms that the mould for the 80-foot sloops will be built at Janicki Industries in Sedro-Woolley. The hulls will be built of composite materials in nearby Anacortes. The team will lease a 20,000-square-foot building in Anacortes for the hull construction.

“We built a mould for one of our 2003 America’s Cup yachts at Janicki and we were impressed with the quality of the product,” Dickson said. “With a custom made boat, it is essential to have quality control every step of the way and we have the confidence in the operation at Janicki. We’ve gone one step further by building the hulls in the same region, at a facility in Anacortes. While last time we constructed the hulls in California, we decided it would be more efficient to build most of the components in the Seattle region.”

The construction will follow an intensive research and development program to develop what the team hopes is a fast design. Through its partnership with automaker BMW, the international team is benefiting from structural analysis and engineering from BMW engineers integrated into the BMW ORACLE Racing design team. “We are fortunate to have this transfer of BMW technology and know-how from the automotive industry,” said Ian Burns, BMW ORACLE Racing Design Coordinator.

“Quality construction is key to bringing our design concepts to life,” Burns said. “Through a precise custom boat-building process, we can ensure the right materials and methods are applied to the build. With high-tech composite materials, precision of construction is critical to ensure that engineering specifications are met,” Burns said. Seattle-area sailor Paul Bieker leads the structural design team, working closely with the boat-building team. “The technology involved in composite boat-building is a science in itself. The design team is pleased to be doing the construction work at these Seattle-area sites.” The tooling is first developed and then a mould for the hull is constructed. The high-tech carbon fibers are layered onto the mould and then baked in a large oven to make a hull that is strong but light.

The construction of an America’s Cup Class yacht is a highly-specialized trade. The BMW ORACLE Racing team will use mostly boat-builders from its experienced in-house team. Mark Turner, the team’s boat-building manager, Tim Smyth and Mark Somerville are collectively managing the build program for BMW ORACLE Racing. All three were involved with the construction of USA 71 and USA 76, the team’s 2003-generation race boats. Those boats are now being used by the team for racing and training as well as for testing new ideas for the 2007-generation boats.

The first of two planned new race boats won’t sail in Valencia until some time in 2006. A start date for boat construction has not been announced. At this stage, the facilities are being prepared to house the construction of the moulds and the hulls but it is still some months before construction begins. “We look forward to becoming part of the greater Seattle area maritime community in the months ahead,” Dickson said. “We will have a little piece of Seattle with us when we race in 2007 in Valencia, Spain.”

In the current sporting environment, it is all too easy to be a stand alone sponsor, who pays an amount of money to have their name attached to a sporting team or event. In South Africa, all too often a sponsor is seen only as the name emblazoned across a football player or rugby player’s jersey. Sometimes the connection between sponsor’s product and the sport they are endorsing is rather tenuous — rugby and a petroleum company? Well I suppose the rugby players use Vaseline a lot to avoid chafe, but that is the only link!

With T-Systems we are very fortunate to be getting a sponsor who, at the highest levels in their own business, regard the America’s Cup, the sailing and the team as we see it. They have understood how high-tech this level of sailing is, and that through the application of appropriate technology and systems we will be able to improve the performance of our boat. They also know that the race is won at the end of the day by the best team, and they have committed themselves to becoming part of our team right from the beginning.

SHOSHOLOZA ADVENTURES - Welcome to the Family

Team Shosholoza skipper Geoff Meek and navigator Marc Lagesse were injured during a sail training session in Table Bay today when yacht Shosholoza RSA 48 hit a whale while sailing at 10 knots under spinnaker. The sudden impact brought the yacht to a dead stop. SA Olympic sailor Ian Ainslie, who was on the helm at the time fell forward over the port steering wheel, breaking the wheel clean off its mount. Navigator Marc Lagesse, who was checking the compass reading on the starboard steering wheel, also fell forward, breaking the wheel and injuring his collar bone.

Skipper Geoff Meek, who was standing alongside Ainslie was flung forward with the impact, injuring his knee on the cross bar linking the two steering wheels. Crew member Charles Nankin was thrown off the yacht into the sea by the impact and it was some five minutes before he was retrieved by the Shosholoza chase boat which was laying a marker buoy about a kilometre
away. “The guys saw the whale surface close to me soon afterwards, that’s how we know it was a Southern Right,” said Nankin. Sailing manager Paul Standbridge, described the incident, which took place just after midday today as a “strong impact”.

“The contrast from quietly sailing under spinnaker was dramatic. We came to such an abrupt stop and the sound of the carbon steering wheels snapping were like rifle shots. The entire crew is pretty shaken up and a number of them have minor arm injuries from bracing themselves and whiplash from the sudden impact,” said Standbridge. He said that besides the two steering wheels being snapped off, the primary pedestal handle was also broken during the impact.

“We have found structural damage to the keel at the transition point between the keel structure and the rest of the hull. The yacht will be lifted out the water later today to check for any further damage. We think the keel must have hit the whale full on. “The entire rig will also be lifted from the yacht and fully checked for damage. “I think the yacht will be out of commission for at least three days,” said Standbridge. Standbridge said Team Shosholoza had been aware of about four pairs of whales in Table Bay. “We saw some whales in the distance today. We are always vigilant, both about them and other objects in the water, but the keel has a four meter draft and this whale must have been deep in the water below us.

T-Systems, the business customer brand of Deutsche Telekom, is “Official Chief Sponsor” of the South African America’s Cup Team Shosholoza. The high-tech boat Sho-sholoza will not only bear the T-Systems logo at the highest-profile competition in international sailing from 2005 to 2007, but will also receive extensive support from its chief sponsor in the areas of in-formation and communications technology and marketing. T-Systems’ R100 million investment in South Africa over a period of three years in Team Shosholoza makes it one of the largest interna-tional investment in a South African sports team and certainly the biggest sponsorship in local sailing.

“We are extremely proud of our decision to support the South African America’s Cup Team. We believe Shosholoza is a true reflection of the values and characteristics of high-tech sailing and what the T-Systems brand stands for. This investment is also clear proof that South Africa is an important market for T-Systems and shows the company’s long-term commitment to the country – we are here to make a difference,” said Wolfgang Jakob, CEO of T-Systems South Africa.

Shosholoza – ambitious newcomer to the America’s Cup “This sponsorship immediately jettisons us three steps forward in our campaign and represents a huge boost for Team Shosholoza and the South African America’s Cup Challenge for 2007,” said Captain Salvatore Sarno, Managing Director for Team Shosholoza, SA America’s Cup Chal-lenge 2007.

He went on to say that being part of a huge corporation like Deutsche Telekom through T-Systems International will not only make the Team feel more important, but also more secure in the knowledge that they are in good hands. “More importantly it means the team can be more confi-dent in achieving their dream of going to Valencia in 2007 and more con-fident that they will have a second new race yacht in 2006.”

The goal of the South African team is to make it to the quarter finals. “Af-ter that point, anything’s possible,” said Captain Sarno. He pointed out that the performance of the Alinghi team of Switzerland at last year’s Cup demonstrated the possibility for a newcomer to oust the favorites.

Team Shosholoza has already signed up most of South Africa’s top yachtsmen including SA international skipper Geoff Meek, SA Olympic sailor Ian Ainslie and top British yachtsman Paul Standbridge as sailing manager as well as local championship title holders. Crack local crews have interrupted promising careers and other top South African sailors have flown in from around the world to join Team Shosholoza. A new race yacht will be unveiled in late April in time for the next seven preliminary races in Europe when Shosholoza will be competing against the seven other America’s Cup teams.

South Africa – a land of new opportunities in sport and business

Mafika Mkwanazi, President of the SA America’s Cup Challenge for 2007 also welcomed the T-Systems sponsorship. “In the 10 years since de-mocracy all of us have forged a togetherness and a union that we can be tremendously proud of. This refreshing new spirit of co-operation and de-sire to become a truly great nation is synonymous with all that Team Sho-sholoza stands for. I must complement President Mbeki and his cabinet for making our country a land of new opportunities in sport and in business.”

He describes Team Shosholoza as a proudly South African initiative that has already captured the imagination of the world’s media. “The team is fully representative of all South Africans, our new yacht has been de-signed and is currently being built in South Africa and now T-Systems, through their commitment to our campaign as a chief sponsor, has con-firmed their confidence in our democracy. It so perfectly illustrates how we can generate jobs and much revenue for the country by working to-gether on all aspects of our America’s Cup campaign.”

“When Team Shosholoza competes against the best teams in the world in the next few years and at the ultimate match in Valencia in 2007 she will be watched by a live television audience of over a billion people, but more importantly T-Systems will be the wind in her sails,” said Mkwanazi.

High-tech sailing – T-Systems’ main communications theme

With the sponsorship of the Shosholoza team T-Systems is expanding its involvement in the field of high-tech sailing, which is emblematic of T Systems’ positioning within the market. Since 2004 the worldwide im-age campaign of this global IT and communications service provider has been centered on competitive sailing. “Sailing epitomizes a perfect inter-play of strategy, tactics, perseverance, flexibility, speed and mastery of state-of-the-art technologies – implemented by a highly motivated and excellent team – all characteristics of the T-Systems brand,” explains Ja-kob. “Through sailing as a communications theme we bring our brand, our values, competencies and customers together.”

He went on to say, “In high-tech sailing, the team is the key – it is the team that battles unwaveringly to nose ahead of the competition no mat-ter the challenge and in this Team Shosholoza not only inspires motiva-tion, their enthusiasm, passion and commitment to each other appeals to audiences,” says Jakob.

Sponsorship part of a three pillar strategy

The Shosholoza sponsorship is one of the three pillars upon which T Systems’ sponsoring strategy is built. As part of T-Systems’ ongoing co-operation with the German Sailing Association (DSV), the company will be sponsoring two teams from each of the 49er, Tornado, and women’s Yngling Olympic boat classes through to the 2008 Olympics. The third pillar of the strategy is to set up an exchange programme with Germany for up-and-coming South African sailors in the near future.

“There is an ocean full of possibilities on the horizon for Team Sho-sholoza. Not only do they carry the hopes of a nation into the Cup Chal-lenge as the very first African team to compete, but they will also carry with them the support of every T-Systems’ employee across the globe who will depend on their courage and determination to see them tena-ciously strive for the best results possible. They have already made his-tory simply by entering, now we look forward to whatever exciting pros-pects lie ahead,” concludes Jakob.

Secrecy and high security has surrounded the local design and building of South Africa’s first state-of-the-art America’s Cup class racing yacht which started this week at an undisclosed boat yard near Cape Town. Building of the new 25 metre ultra hi-tech racing machine involves advanced “oven baked” construction techniques, while the structure itself has evolved from leading edge designs incorporating aerospace technology and research similar to that used in both aircraft and Formula One racing cars. The yacht, which will be launched in April next year, will serve as a tune-up racing yacht for the South African America’s Cup Team Shosholoza and replace the current yacht Shosholoza RSA 48 which was always only intended for crew sail training.

The tune-up yacht will also be used as a development boat for a second new race yacht which will incorporate considerable more research, intensive tank testing and computer modelling. This second new yacht will be launched in 2006 and continuously developed through 2006 and into 2007 when Team Shosholoza will race in the America’s Cup proper off Valencia in Spain. Responsible for the design of the new yachts is a local team of naval architects led by leading British yacht designer Jason Ker. The highly skilled team includes specialist engineers, fluid dynamicists, experts in composite structures and other software experts previously involved in the South African aerospace industry. “The tune-up yacht will effectively provide Team Shosholoza with a faster boat to race against the leading teams on a more level playing field, while also giving the design and construction teams a “dry run” for the final race-boat,” said Ker.

He said a yacht construction team of 15 specialist builders is running the project under build manager Tony Evans who has been involved with the construction of two previous America’s Cup Class Yachts. Work started this week on the deck mould frames while the hull moulds will be completed by the end of the year. Following the lamination process the hull and deck will be joined early next year. The lamination process involves “cooking” the structure in a vast purpose designed oven that is big enough to accommodate the entire hull. Dust free and spotlessly clean it has been specially built from steel frames, galvanised sheeting and insulated panels. “Resin impregnated fibres, which are also used in the building of aircraft and Formula One Racing cars, are used in the building of the hull and deck and the lamination requires three or four stages of “oven baking”. “The baking is a totally computerised process and scientifically controlled by a specially developed software package, the sole purpose being to achieve a super light, ultra strong and stiff structure,” said Evans.

The new yacht, which must meet America’s Cup class design rules which come into force in 2005, will be completed by April next year. A testing period will follow the fitting of the keel, rudder and mast with the official launch date set for Freedom Day, 27 April. The yacht will then be shipped to Europe for the 2005 America’s Cup Acts or precursor regattas scheduled for Spain in June, northern Europe in August and in Italy in October. “We are working to a very tight building deadline and literally don’t have a day to spare,” said Evans adding that the build team is already working on 12 hour shifts to ensure their goals are met. Captain Salvatore Sarno, the driving force behind South Africa’s debut challenge for the America’s Cup in 2007 says that while any nation can enter the America’s Cup it is only the most technologically advanced countries in the world that can effectively do so. “In South Africa’s case it presents us with the perfect opportunity to be showcased as a modern, dynamic, exciting country with the skills and technological expertise equal to the best in the world,” said Cpt Sarno.

Yacht racing is not cheap and at the upper end is practised only by the phenomenally rich. The Americas Cup, the oldest competition in yacht racing, has become the preserve of multi-billionaires, with the last series contested by computing billionaire Larry Ellison and the Swiss electronics tycoon Ernesto Bertarelli, who both spent in excess of $100m on their campaigns.

MacArthur storms her way to date with history

Sydney gold medallist Iain Percy begins his bid for a second world title at the Star World Championships in Buenos Aires on Saturday.

Percy won gold in the Finn class in 2000 but switched the following year to the Star category and won the world title at his first attempt in 2002 in California.

The 28-year-old helmsman, from Southampton, has Weybridge’s Steve Mitchell as his crew as he takes on a talented field of 59 other boats over six races.

Their rivals include Brazilians Torben Grael and Marcelo Ferreira, who won their second Olympic gold in Athens last year, American Mark Reynolds who won Olympic titles in 1992 and 2000, and defending world champions Freddie Loof and Anders Ekstrom of Sweden.

PERCY’S A SHINING STAR

The 32nd America’s Cup is very pleased to report that two more prospective teams have today sent in the paperwork for their challenge to the defending Yacht Club, the Société Nautique de Genève.

Following the wishes of the two teams concerned, the America’s Cup will not immediately reveal the identity of these teams, allowing them to manage their own communications.

In accordance with the Terms of Challenge for the 32nd America’s Cup, any team interested in challenging had to present the required documents to challenge before 16:00 December 17th, 2004, or pay a late entry fee.

As of this first challenge deadline, eight teams have become challengers for the 32nd America’s Cup. They, along with the Defender, Team Alinghi, will compete in a series of Louis Vuitton Acts in Europe over the next three summers. In April 2007, the Challengers will compete for the Louis Vuitton Cup, and the right to face Team Alinghi in the 32nd America’s Cup Match.

Further challengers for the 32nd America’s Cup may be accepted up until the final challenge deadline of the 29th April, 2005. These would be subject to a € 200 000 late fee. There are several project teams working to become full Challengers ahead of this final deadline.

In addition to the two new challengers, the six previously announced teams fighting for the right to meet Alinghi in the 32nd America’s Cup Match are:

BMW ORACLE Racing, USA
+39 Challenge, ITA
Team Shosholoza, RSA
Emirates Team New Zealand, NZL
Luna Rossa Challenge, ITA
K-Challenge, FRA

In race five, the last of the day, Evolution was one of four boats recalled for breaking the start and Perini could not recover, finishing 10th. In contrast, Neville Crichton in Team Shockwave climbed back through the fleet to be sixth at the first windward mark and second in the race to all-the-way winner Southern Star, skippered by former Farr 40 World Champion John Calvert-Jones with Alinghi America’s Cup sailing head, Grant Simmer, as his tactician.

Internationals struggle in light and flukey winds of Rolex Trophy [Yachting Universe]

Ben Ainslie and Shirley Robertson’s “three blondes in a boat” have capped a golden year for British sailing by being named in the New Year honours.

Ainslie, who triumphed in the Finn class at the Athens Olympics, has become an OBE.

Beijing is something Ainslie must also make a decision about but for different reasons.

He is intent on success in a much bigger boat - in the Americas Cup, an event in which he will compete for Team New Zealand next year.

But he can already lay claim to the title of Britain’s greatest-ever sailor after collecting his third Olympic medal, and his second gold, in Athens.

Honours hail golden sailing year [BBC]

Former World Offshore champion Alain Fédensieu, leading a new French challenge in the 32nd Americas Cup, guided Horizon FCB to a convincing overall victory in the first of seven rounds at the weekend as the new IRC class event got off to a perfect start. But while Fédensieu at times looked in a class of his own, his four straight race wins inspired some of the UAE’s top crews who hit back to relegate Horizon to third place in the fifth and final race of the Dubai International Marine Club IRC event.

Taking second place overall was Switch Blade skippered by David ROSANT, with former UAE rally driving champion Alan SKENNERTON finishing third in Shock Wave Aquamarine. Final race winner David WORRALL, skipper of Sharazad and vice president of the UAE IRC Owner’s Association, would have fared better than his fourth place overall but for a brush with Switch Blade which led to his disqualification in race four. But Worrall was in a buoyant mood at the finish, singing the praises of the race series for the new IRC class of boats and savouring the chance to compete against Fédensieu and the other stars now certain to follow him into the Maktoum Sailing Trophy.

Maktoum Sailing Trophy

An international search has begun for a new Chief Executive Officer for Yachting New Zealand replacing Simon Wickham following his decision to leave the role after close to 5 years of service.

Yachting New Zealand has appointed specialist recruitment agency Sportspeople to manage the search and selection process for what is widely regarded one of New Zealand’s most prestigious Olympic sport management roles.

Based in Auckland, Yachting New Zealand is the peak body for competitive and recreational sailing representing 128 yacht clubs 47 class associations and over 30,000 members. The membership of Yachting New Zealand includes recreational and competitive sailors, sailing and boating clubs and a broad cross section of the marine industry. Sailing is firmly established as one of New Zealand’s top summer sports and has a strong public following from past Olympic and Americas Cup success.

In addition to it’s specific responsibilities in promoting and managing sailing throughout New Zealand, Yachting New Zealand also plays an active role in education, training and water safety and has an active role in events and regattas for junior, youth and Olympic classes.

According to Sportspeople’s Managing Director, Robert McMurtrie the Chief Executive Officer will be responsible for managing all aspects of Yachting New Zealand, including it’s commercial, sport and competition related programmes.

“As New Zealand’s leading Olympic sport we are looking to recruit an outstanding leader to implement the strategic and business plans to ensure yachting in New Zealand grows and continues to produce World and Olympic champions on the international stage. With a new Strategic Plan recently adopted by the Board, the role offers a range of exciting growth opportunities for the new Chief Executive Officer to develop and implement,” he said.

In addition to a targeted search, Sportspeople is inviting suitably qualified and experienced candidates to apply prior to the close date 22 December