I noticed a post on the 18HT website's forum that asked for opinions on prize money at cat regattas?



I wonder what the readers of this forum think about the possibility of cash prizes for catamaran races.

Money can bring out the worst in a person. I suspect that if cash prizes became a norm at regattas you'd find less camaraderie amongst competitors, less sharing of rigging and tunning tips and generally less friendly competition. Probably more protests too.

Tracie

Prize money is a good thing for the sport. It will cause two different catagories of racing to evolve. The existing amatuer circuit and the semi-pro circuit. The two crowds would co-mingle as they do now but at the pro events most of the sailors would be of similar caliber.



Money does bring out the worst in people but it brings out the best in sport.



Steve

The Coors Light Regatta was run Memorial Day weekend in Fajardo, Puerto Rico.



The Purse was $30,000 USD



There was two Beach cat diviisons,....H-16 ,...and open.



The prize were



1st $2000

2nd $1000

3rd $ 500



$100 to enter



All had a great time,..raced as usual,...no problems.



The Beach Cat Open Reults



1st- E. Figeroua - PR - Tornado sport



2nd - T. Jackson - St. Thomas - Tornado sport



3rd - T, Ainger - St. Croix - I-20





Bruce



St. Croix

If the Fee to race is raised to provide the prize then you will not have new racers in the events. I would try it a few times but there is usually someone that wins all the time and a few that win if that person does not show up Prize racing is for the elite sailor that believes he/she will recover the entry fee enough times to at least break even. I do not like snobs or generally unfriendly people and would stay away from prize races if I found them there. It is also possible that prize racing and media coverage would attract new people into racing that would not have previously thought about it. I would think this is a distant possibility given the years of practice that it would take to get competitive. (Sailing is not like stock car racing). My opinion is knock yourself out and see how it works.

To answer you question, the entry fee is not changed in order to raise a cash prize. The prize money for the Summer Sizzler is contirbuted by sponsorships only.



It is important to to understand that the Summer Sizzler will still feature all the great things that have made it a blast in the past. There will still be the Reggae party, great trophies, open class & A-Class starts, and a great venue to boot. The $5000 cash prise is just an extra bonus to those racing in the F-18HT class. Hopefully, cat sailing in general will benefit from the media and public attention that such prizes bring to the table.



W.F. Oliver

I agree with WF the prize money is brought to the table by the sponsors. Entry fees are just a guarantee that boats will attend. There are some events that use the fees to offset the cost of the regatta. But, these are not "pro" events.



In a Pro series (which anytime you get paid to sail according to ISAF your a pro). The entry fee does a few things... 1. gives a general idea how many boats will be there. 2. A higher fee insures that "serious" people attend the event.



Two things as an organizer that you don't want to happen is: 1. no one shows up or few people do

2. That the teams that do are not prepared or that less capable ones are detracting from the event. (ie breakdown during the event, cause crashes due to inexperience, are not "professional" in conduct) All of which shows poorly on the sponsor who is the person carrying the costs of the event and has their name dragged down in the process.



One thing that I heard when we did research on pro-sport events that I thought was funny. ---- "The surest way to get kicked off the PGA tour is to scratch your crotch --- you can do it in baseball, but banks and insurance companies don't want to be thought of as crotch grabbers" That is a direct comment from a major PGA offical. Goes to show what you have to think about when your thinking about sponsors and thier thought processes.



Steve

Hmm... No shots of teams putting on the ol harness!..



Steve, It seems to me that success or failure of a pro series will depend on the video team used to film the action. Watching boats race from a distance is not interesting. Watching the action from on board cameras or from a video crew close by can be very exciting. Seems to me that this film and a venue to show it is critical to generating interest in the racing.



How difficult is this kind of sports videography?



Do you have to stay close to the beach to make the sponsor's happy that their venue is prominantly featured? and How important is the venue?



Do you need to gear things for what I believe is the dis- interested crowd on the beach. How important is crowd enthusiasum for the show.



Good luck

Mark

Mark,



You make a couple of great points.



Video is very important. According to techs, the new system will work from a distance of about 5 miles depending upon a few atmospheric conditions. One way to get around it is to make the committee boat a "collector" for the signals, amplify them there and then forward them to shore via a different setup. From what I am told this is the best way to do it and depending on altitude of the antenna the distance can be quite far. Actually, one way to increase the range of the camera units is to place the reciever higher like tethering it to a balloon (another way to get the sponsors name out there).



As far as venue's alot of things are suppose to happen on shore that also draw attention (press conferences, meet the team events and etc -- I hate to keep going back and comparing to nascar but they have had about 50 years to get it right so alot of what they do will be reused in a slightly different format)



Steve

Great points, Steve! I agree about the video angle drawing intrest in an otherwise distant (and therefore boring) spectator sport. Heck, if nothing else works, a monohull with a large mast could be the collector/repeater station in the middle of the course (officially marked as a course hazard, of course) for good reception, since a breezy racecourse could bode problematic for a thetherd zepplin!



If nothing else comes of the event (doubtful), at least there will be technology that can sell to other cat events (like Worrell, Tybee 500, Alter Cup, etc.)



Since sponsorship seems to be the topic of interest here, perhaps some research into how the Australian skiff fleet managed to garner serious $$$ for their series? From what I understand (from some down-under buddies), the 18 skiff series (four races in different cities?) is on national TV with big brokerage houses and companies like IBM dropping huge money on teams. This may be biased (as I've never been there), but worth a look?

THe major difference between the markets (AUS and USA) is that in AUS sailing is a national passion. Where in the United States its barely known -- part of which I believe is the due to how US Sailing has conducted itself as an organization. Most people do not know that US Sailing is chartered by the US Congress as the national body of our sport and as such is responsible for its growth and management. Unfortunately, its history has been filled with petty issues and typical YC trivialities. (Am I slightly upset about US Sailing --yes. History shows that they have been hiderence in more cases that an advocate) I'm not saying that there are some really great people doing great work there but, they really don't have the laser focus that they should -- in my humble opinion.



As for technologies transfer into other events. Thats one of the things that I hope the series brings to the sport in general. Which should make it more "spectator friendly" especially when you combine it with tracking systems that show the spectator who is in what position on the race course (ie 1,2,3, etc -- all in realtime).



Steve

One article I saw on the Aussie-18 skiff series mentioned that from the start they wanted the spectators to be able to see the action. So they picked visible boats, and made sure that the races were tight courses in view of spectating areas on land and water. They built on sailing interest, put the series in very visible places, and created more passion for the spsort.



This may be stating the obvious or re-stating what's been said - If you want to bring in sponsors and build a National interest, the construction of the series and events needs to be geared towards building a spectator sporting event, not necessarily the optimum regatta or sailing contest. In a perfect world the two could be the same. In the real world, if you want to make it a pro thing with sponsors, spectator and sporting event considerations need to come first. We don't have a National passion for this sport, but there's no reason it can't be created if that's a goal.



All of our major sporting contests are spectator entertainment enterprises, whether people admit it or not. They can blather on about the purity of their sport (basketball, golf, tennis, football, NASCAR, F1, etc.) but they are only big because somebody took them and built/marketed them into an entertainment passion. There's no reason the same can't be done for sailing, IMO.

Keith,



Very well said.



Thank you

Steve

Anyone know more about the new cash purse series brewing? I'm speaking of the one that starts with the Virginia Beach Summer Sizzler in July.



Media coverage will be crucial to the success of such an event. What arrangements are being made for this series?

Probabley mentioned this before but a number of catsailors have raced in prof. series , a number raced in the Ultimate Yacht race series for prize money ,also seen on NBC Sports ,-In 3 classes Hobie 21s -J-24s and Ultimate 30s

We won the Ultimate Y R in the 21 Class in the New London Mystic area in the fall of 88 , Oct,-{-very cold on Long Island Sound }-we won 5 k and were on t v ,-a great weekend and very exciting at the time .

Also during the same year was PROSAIL on H-21s and Formula 40s ,-Randy ,-Tom Blackaller , and a number of well known sailors with large sponsors and budgets were on the 40s ,-the 21s were a good show too, Races were in Miami ,Corpus Cristy ,Newport R I , Great Lakes, San Fransisco,-some of the breezyest areas in the country to insure spills and thrills for spectators .



On board cameras ,-blimps for areal shots , chase boats with large screen t v are needed along with commentators that understand the sport to present it correctly .They did not have these things in place ,and GPS s were not yet available.

We did have on water judges to avoid protests in the Ultimate series ,-if they raised a flag at you in a situation you did your circles or retire ,--good idea .



The braintrust in Prosail eventually desided to eliminate most all rules and start the fleet along the beach for spectator interest ,--what a mess ,--in Miami one of their last events they tried this ,-- imagine 30 H-21s with wings all starting on a reach along shore and all arriving at the A mark at the same time with no rules ,-whew ,-it was the charriot races in ancient Rome all over,-boats and wings locked up ,lots of cursing , boats run up on marks which was now o k ,-they thought this would make it more interesting and easily understood by non sailing spectators ,--be carefull when trying to make this a spectator sport ,-people are capable of understanding the basics of the sport , don't sell them short--Prosail folded shortly after for various reasons.



Carl

You're right, the balance is needed. Getting rid of all the rules was not a smart thing to do! I imagine the same thing would happen in any spectator sport if you were to remove the rules. Having people that are sailing savy in the front office is paramount. And I don't believe dumbing down is required to make things a spectator sport. Some of the nuances as to what constitutes a foul in basketball still elude me...



Starting along the beach on a reach for the spectators would be good, eliminating the sailing rules? Uh, certainly not. All the major spectator sports still have rules to follow. So obviously some smarts need to be applied, which sounds like it might have been missing a bit before.

Hi Keith and Steve



What form of spectating are we talking about.



Is pro sailing a video event? OR an event best promoted to live audience's on the beach front.



This choice is important. If you are trying to generate interest in the crowd on the beach... Then the venue is critical... you need wind.... the right geography so that spectators are close enough to see some action and fans who are there to cheer for X race team. The Aussi's seems to have this figured out. They wanted large showy boats to watch. They developed their fan base with huge skiffs. I understand that they have moved to 49ners...but I think they are dealing with a sophisticated crowd now.



However, if you think that the growth plan is through the video packaging with a weekly racing show on a cable channel...then you are not catering to the crowd on the beach. The pictures and video action are the most important output of a race.



Some thoughts on the view from the beach.

Years ago, Prosail came to Sandy Point State Park in Maryland. They had a couple of hundred people on the beach and they had a course where the Formula 40's would come reaching down the beach about 50 yards off shore. That is what people watched... Once the boats headed back upwind.... they turned to their conversations and casually kept an eye on the water. Nobody was waiting with baited breath for a pass.



Likewise, the Hobie 21's were racing. They had about 15 to 20 boats. What you could see was lots of bumping around marks, A couple of boats would break out of the pack and lead the rest of the way around the course. Nobody paid much attention. Relative to the 40's... the hobie 21's seemed kind of tame. The show was about the Formula 40's.



My analysis was .... too many boats on the course is not good... You need to be able to sort out the racing as a spectator from a distance.. Much like a horse race... they don't like starts with 20 horses..... I would think that you would want a fleet of 10 to 15 boats that were more or less equally competitive so that any dog could win



Two... you need to know the dogs.... The Olympics build interest in the minor sports by profiling the US competitors and their top international competition. If it was just the USA bobsled...few would care... Conversly... if it was just Bob Smith and his bobsled team... few would also care. I think that a small number of teams with profiles... would allow fan's to develop a rooting interest because they would start to feel connected to the team.

.

If you have two pro classes... the attention will be directed to the larger showier boats.... But... that might not be the best racing.



I think the focus of a pro series needs to be addressed... Spectacle... large flashy boats... or racing...lots of passes etc. But pick one and feature it. The dual classes at Sandy point didn't seem to work from a spectator point of view.



Short races with the emphasis on the start, mark roundings, tactics for passing were more exciting then... Which side of the course was favored and the strategic side of the sport. I don't think a pro series is about an absolutely level paying field to determine the best sailor... Rather... I think the focus is on entertaining the viewer. Deciding what kind of viewer is critical... the video viewer or the live viewer.



Personally, I think the video package focus to the TV viewer is more important than the focus to the viewer on the beach.

I would feature the racing action and the racers in video..... I think if you want to market to the live audience ... then you are looking for large showy boats that impress the casual bystander. here the focus is on the boat... and then the racers...



What do the Aussi's do these days, my understanding is that they are focusing on smaller skiffs like the 49ner which can tip over alot and manuever lots of tacks and jibes (aka action)



I am sure that everyone wants both elements... racing action and a show for the beach crowd. I am just nor sure how you pull both of simultaneously when you have no pro sailing going on now.





Take Care

Mark

There have been some very good posts put on this thread lately regarding several issues.



In order for spectators to undersatand the event it is essential that:



A. The courses are standardized -- same in every location, for this reason(and others) the courses will be an olympic windward-leeward gate with a slight offset mark.



B. The rules of the series will apply and be paramount to the event. In otherwords, relevant sailing rules will apply with simplified translation so that everryone understands the rules. Such as thou shall not make contact with another boat!



C. Make protests very expensive (like $500 a protest) so that people win on the race course and not in the protest room. Also make the protest fee go to charity if you loose the protest. Also judges will be on the course to rule immediately -- their rule is final.



D. Make comentary relevant to the race.... not like some of the "back in my day " commentary that we heard during the last AC.



E. Make sure the courses are clearly defined so that outside traffic does not disrupt the event. I.E. make sure the coast guard keeps bubba and his fishing buddies out of the middle of the course.



F. Make it clear to the racing teams that they have to be available for interview by the press covering the event. IE mandatory press conferences and social affairs.



G. Mandatory team meetings where every crew member attends -- that way information is in everyone's hand and there is no " I did not know" excuse.



H. Make the sponsors responsible for their staff that comes to see the event. Also, make them accountable for the timely delivery of their commitments. (its all in the contracts-- enforce them)



I. Make sure everyone meets their responsiblities. IE sponsors moneys are there in advance (escrowed for by the year), teams entry fees are paid in advance and a timely manner, protest fees are escrowed in advance, teams boats are registered (weighed, measured, numbered, logged and colors blocked -- for the year), event workers are trained and responsible, event equipment is always servicable and in good shape, event site permits are pulled and posted in advance, YC staff nows what their job is an who is doing it, ......... the list goes on and on.



All of these things make a good event and nothing can be over looked.



Teaching the spectator is like teaching a child. Keep it simple, consistant and always do what you say your going to do.



Thanks

Steve

I'd try for both, and I don't think it's unattainable. Large flashy boats will make for good on the beach spectating and video. If they are close in design specs, you should be able to get close racing from them as well. Definitely design for maneuverability. Large, fast, flashy boats will better capture the imagination of spectators, especially those new to sailing. Lower classes on the course at the same time are certainly going to be also-rans, whether it's on video or live. Run those races first if you can as support series, then bring out the big guns. Build up to "The Show". The lower classes will definitely not draw the biggest part of the audience, but that's ok.



I doubt you could rely soley on beach spectators to support such a thing, but going to see something in person adds to the whole experience. So mix the pro series with some beach and non-beach events. But video it all for viewing on TV.



Go to an auto race, and you're likely to see some of the same things that you saw at Sandy Point. Once the start is done, on a smaller oval the cars are all mixed up and it gets hard to figure out who's where, sometimes even the leaders. People talk, they buy hot dogs. They listen in on radios. Things happen that get their attention from time to time, and they watch during those moments. Some people are hard-core and watch everything. Go to a road course where you only see one part of the track. The cars completely disappear until they come through again. It's not important that everybody is paying attention to every moment. It's important that they liked what they did see, enjoyed the experience (wahtever it was made up of), and are willing to come back (and spend their money). And they can watch it on TV and remember the last time they went to the track. Maybe they toured the pits and got an autograph from a driver, watched the mechanics working on the cars. Got up close. Smelled the gasoline.