AC35: Some might leave, others might enter. Roland Gaebler’ view
A new boat has been announced to replace the AC62s. Many like Roland have been very active in the background. I received this yesterday, the deal was already set. Also spoke with some others by skype who will consider entering the game with this new format.
. Luna Rossa might sadly leave, (hope they stay in the game) but many others will surely give this new format a try as we mentioned on the AC45 post.
Why not a German Team also? For this kind of projects resources are key, but if you don´t have people behind with the right doses of will like Gaebler, you may never even start to gather funds.
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Roland Gaebler, my views about the new AC
1. Lower Budget – The entry is much more easy. More Teams will come for sure. If we sail in the future with the new AC48, we will see 10+ Teams from 2018 on.
2. More Fairness – The budget is less important. The sailors skills getting more dominant. That is a very positive move! And give a better image too. Less money. More athletic. More cleverness. More flexibility.
3. Closer Action – Small boats can sail closer to the spectators. We can use more sailing stadiums in the centre of cities around the World.
4. More Dramatic – Smaller boats in bigger fleets deliver more action. Check the AC45 YouTube video views above one million. This says it all what the spectators want.
5. Better Mobility – Transport of AC48 in Containers allow us to travel quicker to any venue. We can reach more regions and sponsor markets around the globe. I hope the day comes we have events in all regions (Europe, Amerika North/South, Asia/AUS/NZL India, Middle East etc.). Like the Moto F1.
6. Better Image – The endless AC talk about mega million budgets
is over. This fits not in the time any more. We have to be lean and green! Same way more action with fair rules.
7. Return-on-Invest – Now we have fair budgets (compare to other Top Events like MotoF1) which allow a very good ROI for sponsors with global activation.
8. AC48 Class Rules – One Design, but still technical innovation at some parts. Teams can build their own boats. This rule we used in Tornado OD and is by far the best!
Wishes/Comments
All round Performance – I hope the new AC48 will also have a mega codeZero to allow sailracing action from 1kts wind on. We need start exact on time in any wind to get good live TV contacts worldwide. The TV channels must trust in the program you create.
Yes, there is a lot of critics around and we can understand it. But same way, we have to go with the time. Otherwise we lose against other sports. The Big Yachting Game of Billionaires is over forever. It is more sympathetic for the sailing folks, fans and journalists to see a sailing series which is powered by fair rules and promoted by excellent media techniques.
We have to look to other sport like Moto F1 or Nascar. We can learn from the bad and good moves they make.
But we have the future. We use the power of nature with very innovative technique and teamwork. This is the future!
Now, we need to tune our event into top level with an easy-to-understand racing format. In my view, the new AC is going 100% into the right direction.
Roland Gaebler
