USA-49 Joins 61 as a Show Boat Sep 21, 11:09
BMW ORACLE Racing was the first team in the current Cup to have a show boat, thanks to BMW putting a nicely buffed out USA-61 on display around Europe for the past 18 months. 61 is currently on display at Munich Airport.
Now USA-49 joins 61 as a show boat for the USA market, to my knowledge the first time any AC team has had two showboats. This week 49 made its debut as a much-publicized centerpiece in San Francisco's Moscone Center during Oracle Corp's annual "Oracle OpenWorld" conference.
A positive development for the sport, fully six ACC show boats are now being displayed around the world. There is strong public interest, witness this recent post on the Challenger Commission blog that generated many more "hits" and "referrals" than usual, thanks in part to being picked up by Scuttelbutt yesterday.
Strategic decisions and those involving use of significant team resources are carefully reviewed by our team's Executive Committee led by CEO Chris Dickson (NZL). We had a hard think about whether to keep 49 sailing for training purposes, sell it, scrap it for parts, or create a second show boat. Given the low conversion and opportunity costs, and the publicity USA-49 has already generated this week, including this article in ZD Net's widely read tech/business blog Between the Lines, it seems the right call was made.
Once green-lighted, Mark "Tugboat" Turner (NZL) oversaw the conversion. In the corporate world Tugsy would be called director of manufacturing, but he prefers to be called, simply and modestly, "boatbuilder." Our San Francisco-based colleagues, Bill and Melinda Erkelens (USA), are looking after 49's logistik.
Anyone in North America interested in displaying USA-49 at a significant public or private event please contact Mirko via email: mgroeschner [at] bmworacleracing [dot] com.
USA-49 helping to create AC and team "awareness" at Oracle Open
World in San Francisco this week.
Carbonologist Mark "Tugboat" Turner, boatbuilder
extraordinaire.
Now USA-49 joins 61 as a show boat for the USA market, to my knowledge the first time any AC team has had two showboats. This week 49 made its debut as a much-publicized centerpiece in San Francisco's Moscone Center during Oracle Corp's annual "Oracle OpenWorld" conference.
A positive development for the sport, fully six ACC show boats are now being displayed around the world. There is strong public interest, witness this recent post on the Challenger Commission blog that generated many more "hits" and "referrals" than usual, thanks in part to being picked up by Scuttelbutt yesterday.
Strategic decisions and those involving use of significant team resources are carefully reviewed by our team's Executive Committee led by CEO Chris Dickson (NZL). We had a hard think about whether to keep 49 sailing for training purposes, sell it, scrap it for parts, or create a second show boat. Given the low conversion and opportunity costs, and the publicity USA-49 has already generated this week, including this article in ZD Net's widely read tech/business blog Between the Lines, it seems the right call was made.
Once green-lighted, Mark "Tugboat" Turner (NZL) oversaw the conversion. In the corporate world Tugsy would be called director of manufacturing, but he prefers to be called, simply and modestly, "boatbuilder." Our San Francisco-based colleagues, Bill and Melinda Erkelens (USA), are looking after 49's logistik.
Anyone in North America interested in displaying USA-49 at a significant public or private event please contact Mirko via email: mgroeschner [at] bmworacleracing [dot] com.
USA-49 helping to create AC and team "awareness" at Oracle Open
World in San Francisco this week.
Carbonologist Mark "Tugboat" Turner, boatbuilder
extraordinaire.
General | by TFE
