Venture Cup

[Mrs Smillie]

Originally Posted by blimp

You're all aware that the RYA were unable to approve the event. Most are also aware that we've been working hard in the background to try and find an alternative solution. This, we feel, we now have .....but it's a delicate process and all the good work being done by many right now can be very easily undone. Until we have that final piece of paper saying all is approved, we can't issue any official information. We know it's frustrating, but that's how it has to be right now.

The teams themselves have been informed of what's happening because they're critical to all of this, but on the basis that it has to be kept confidential right now.

Well what a surprise NOT!! Claire

[racefan]

What's the saying, "smoke and mirrors"?

[TomLinley]

I totally understand the reasoning of keeping contractual items and ongoing discussions private until secured for public release and I also know you have worked very hard and been committed to get this of the ground.

I do however, respectfully comment that I do find odd at this late stage, the lack of a complete entry list of confirmed racers. For a race or challenge of this size, any event such as the Paris Dakar or similar would have had an entry list posted online, videos of team preparation, and substantially more info on the confirmed and paid entries. A whole campaign would be focus on driving information to the public, This is key for the public following the story and a major part of the pre event PR.

With only a few weeks to go, with a race of this magnitude and cost for teams, I would believe it rare to find new teams coming in at this late stage, with their boats prepared and the logistics finalised for a month away from base. Thus by now you must have a final list, even of it's not the target of entries you aimed for, it would be nice to support those who have worked hard to join such an adventure and invested heavily in the program.

This would not effect your finalising of matters around the RYA/UIM approval.

[blimp]

When the RYA decision was made last week we could've chosen to (a) walk away from the entire project while throwing mud and blame at everyone, or (b) decide 'sod it' and run this thing as something outside of any 'official' structure and damn the consequences.

We chose neither of those options, and focused instead on finding a solution which wouldn't damage the integrity of the sport, those that participate in it, or those that govern it.

As such, we are working through a process which we must respect and part of that means that we can't disclose this plan until it's approved and in place.

It's got nothing to do with smoke and mirrors, or keeping information from people (we'd love to be shouting it from the rooftops right now). It's simply a matter of respecting a process and working through it in the best possible way to expedite a positive outcome.

[Mrs Smillie]

Originally Posted by TomLinley

I totally understand the reasoning of keeping contractual items and ongoing discussions private until secured for public release and I also know you have worked very hard and been committed to get this of the ground.

I do however, respectfully comment that I do find odd at this late stage, the lack of a complete entry list of confirmed racers. For a race or challenge of this size, any event such as the Paris Dakar or similar would have had an entry list posted online, videos of team preparation, and substantially more info on the confirmed and paid entries. A whole campaign would be focus on driving information to the public, This is key for the public following the story and a major part of the pre event PR.

With only a few weeks to go, with a race of this magnitude and cost for teams, I would believe it rare to find new teams coming in at this late stage, with their boats prepared and the logistics finalised for a month away from base. Thus by now you must have a final list, even of it's not the target of entries you aimed for, it would be nice to support those who have worked hard to join such an adventure and invested heavily in the program.

This would not effect your finalising of matters around the RYA/UIM approval.

Here Here totally agree really dont know why it is all so secret maybe because there are fewer boats than last year!

[scorpion]

if there are fewer boats than last year taking part then surely it is down to the boat teams and not the organisers !

the challenge and route is well documented so i for one don't understand why teams pull out so close to the start date if they have spent a year and loads of money getting their boats ready.

[blimp]

Get set for one of the World’s greatest adventures


2,500 miles of unforgiving seas ….15 days …. 30g+ snap impacts coming every few seconds …. 9 glamorous locations …. thousands of horsepower … and a commitment to never give up, no matter what you’re faced with. These are just some of the many ingredients which await the participants of a very special, and very unique, event which will run right across Europe from June 7th to 22nd.

The 2014 Venture Cup will be the ultimate demonstration of seamanship, navigation, skill and strategy. It’s the longest, toughest and most prestigious adventure in powerboating. The nature of this epic challenge means that running at 100% from the start would almost guarantee failure. There's two weeks of hard ocean conditions to overcome, so participants need to carefully manage themselves, their crew, boats, engines, and strategies to stand any chance of making it to the finish. And what a finish it will be - coming into Monte-Carlo as part of the opening celebrations for the magnificent new Yacht Club de Monaco. This is one of the world's truly great adventures, where only the very best will make it to the end.

As well as being the most significant powerboat event of 2014, it will also involve the largest ever scientific study of human factors on fast boats. This research is being backed by several universities and will influence the development of patrol, rescue and leisure boats in the future.

The excitement begins at ‘the Gathering’ on Wednesday 4th of June, where the boats come together at their home port of St Katharine Docks in the heart of London to make their final preparations and meet the public. They’ll remain on display there until early Saturday June 7th when they’ll slip their moorings, leave the lock in St Katharines, and make way down the Thames for the official start at Nieupoort in Belgium. From there they’ll make passage to Jersey, then Les Sables d’Olonne in France, A Coruna in northern Spain, Lisbon, Malaga and right up along the azure waters of the Med to the end of the challenge in Monaco on Sunday 22nd June.

Throughout the event spectators will be encouraged to come down, meet the boats and the teams, learn some more about powerboating, and enjoy the many festivals along the route. Those unable to get to the event directly will be able to follow the excitement on the event website.

This is the first of what promises to become a major annual sporting occasion, bringing powerboating back into the mainstream and returning the daring deeds of these determined participants to the public eye. Future events will include Venture Cups in the Caribbean and a run from London to St Petersburg.

The boats and crews are ready, the venues are waiting, and the excitement builds more and more with each passing day. Monte-Carlo is in their sights!

[nitro9]

Oh wait.. I see what you did there.. swopped 'race' for 'adventure' and Great Britain for Belgium.. but the amount and names of participants is still secret by the looks of it.. dear oh dear.. is this where powerboat racing has come to die?.. very sad indeed

Nick

[Mrs Smillie]

Originally Posted by nitro9

Oh wait.. I see what you did there.. swopped 'race' for 'adventure' and Great Britain for Belgium.. but the amount and names of participants is still secret by the looks of it.. dear oh dear.. is this where powerboat racing has come to die?.. very sad indeed

Nick

yes very sad why all the secrets when 'certain' people know but not allowed to say just tell us for crying out loud!

[TomLinley]

"The boats and crews are ready"

From what I have seen on your public social sites, recently it has promoted only a couple of teams. Mainly Vector/Martini build, both scorpion RIBs, the bubble deck cig, Warpath, Goldfish and construction racing, a total of 7 boats?

Can we assume that the teams running are those you have naturally promoted and that the below list will be smaller in reality due to various reasons? Or can you confirm that in fact the below are all racing, as this would be fantastic for the industry/sport and be a real spectacle! If so its a real shame they have not been fully highlighted thus far.

For people that are not powerboat racers or friends of the sport, it would be difficult for the general public to really grasp who is racing and how their builds/prep are progressing-its hard for those that have connections with the sport!

B12 Birretta Due
D55 Boss One
B19 Bubbles Racing
G44 Construction Racing
B38 Goldfish Racing
D10 Grey Ghost Racing
D50 Hot Lemon
H555 HTS Perkins
E3 My Pleasure
C99 PPG Print
A447 Predator Racing
A111 RaceToMonteCarlo
C11 Tally-Ho
C7 Team Barwood
B558 Team Hendricks
F9 Team Locamotion Sunseeker
A73 Team Warlord
B7 Vector Offshore Racing Vector
B69 Warpath

Aidan I respect you a lot and understand the amount of work you have put in. I am also not trying to dig to stir or be annoying, however as someone who loves racing and has decided not to part take in this adventure, I still would love to follow along and know which boats are racing/joining the trip. I would follow it if there were only 2 or 3 boats, however I feel confused to the lack of info on confirmed teams.

[Mikko Oikari]

Warpath....out..
Predator...out..

[Worsforwear]

???

[Mrs Smillie]

Originally Posted by TomLinley

"The boats and crews are ready"

From what I have seen on your public social sites, recently it has promoted only a couple of teams. Mainly Vector/Martini build, both scorpion RIBs, the bubble deck cig, Warpath, Goldfish and construction racing, a total of 7 boats?

Can we assume that the teams running are those you have naturally promoted and that the below list will be smaller in reality due to various reasons? Or can you confirm that in fact the below are all racing, as this would be fantastic for the industry/sport and be a real spectacle! If so its a real shame they have not been fully highlighted thus far.

For people that are not powerboat racers or friends of the sport, it would be difficult for the general public to really grasp who is racing and how their builds/prep are progressing-its hard for those that have connections with the sport!

B12 Birretta Due
D55 Boss One
B19 Bubbles Racing
G44 Construction Racing
B38 Goldfish Racing
D10 Grey Ghost Racing
D50 Hot Lemon
H555 HTS Perkins
E3 My Pleasure
C99 PPG Print
A447 Predator Racing
A111 RaceToMonteCarlo
C11 Tally-Ho
C7 Team Barwood
B558 Team Hendricks
F9 Team Locamotion Sunseeker
A73 Team Warlord
B7 Vector Offshore Racing Vector
B69 Warpath

Aidan I respect you a lot and understand the amount of work you have put in. I am also not trying to dig to stir or be annoying, however as someone who loves racing and has decided not to part take in this adventure, I still would love to follow along and know which boats are racing/joining the trip. I would follow it if there were only 2 or 3 boats, however I feel confused to the lack of info on confirmed teams.

well i know for a fact there are a lot less than that lot only one i actually know about is The Boss and thats because my hubby is working on it to get it ready to "race"!!

[blimp]

(I know I shouldn't, but sod it)

Claire - So your husband is making a few bob by using his excellent skills to assist the Boss team in getting ready for the Venture Cup ..... and you continue to throw the boot in any chance you get. That seems logical.

Would you have been happier if we'd cancelled the whole thing and walked away? .......or thrown our toys out by blaming everyone for either not approving the event, or not participating in it?

The current situation is one we arrived at WITH the teams a few Saturdays ago in London, and one in which the teams have been very much a part of over the past two weeks. They're extremely excited about it, as are we.

We'll announce an updated entry list after the weekend, and we'd love to see people get behind the event. If some people would rather find flaws, then go ahead, fill your boots ....there's plenty of flaws there ....but at least these IS something there.

Nighty night

[Mrs Smillie]

Originally Posted by blimp

(I know I shouldn't, but sod it)

Claire - So your husband is making a few bob by using his excellent skills to assist the Boss team in getting ready for the Venture Cup ..... and you continue to throw the boot in any chance you get. That seems logical.

Would you have been happier if we'd cancelled the whole thing and walked away? .......or thrown our toys out by blaming everyone for either not approving the event, or not participating in it?

The current situation is one we arrived at WITH the teams a few Saturdays ago in London, and one in which the teams have been very much a part of over the past two weeks. They're extremely excited about it, as are we.

We'll announce an updated entry list after the weekend, and we'd love to see people get behind the event. If some people would rather find flaws, then go ahead, fill your boots ....there's plenty of flaws there ....but at least these IS something there.

Nighty night

Right just to get your facts right Eric is not making a penny out of helping the Boss Team unless you have been told otherwise i would check your facts first!!! And I'm not the only one asking about teams and as you lot are so sad that you have taken Eric off the mailing list even thou the other team members he was racing with are still on it i feel that tells us all something don't you !! Claire

[timtap]

In practice ,the organisation of this event has probably done more to damage any reasonable prospect of ever seeing a field of thirty or more of the greatest endurance powerboats run a multi stop race mirroring, even in part the original concept of the Venture Cup . Whilst eagerly wishing to be a part of this race as a photographer and media representative from day one I think I feel somewhat amazed at the total lack of professionalism and basic forethought in organising such an event and Logically speaking , the plans have failed to attract any significant sponsors ( Vital in such a venture ) failed to secure an representative in each of the stop-off venues to procure the interest from commerce in those resorts , (Less than a month a way and a search of press interest in all of the stop off points is Zero !
The website looks rather keen to the eye but poorly updated (or not at all )and late in coming .
On the face of it I really do wonder what everyone who has been trying to organise this has been doing for all this time or perhaps they've been working their arses of trying their hardest while the man at the helm of the venture just gestures his way through tasks while actually not asking or listening to anyone wishing to help or advise , in effect achieving nothing .
Aidan , We really did want this to happen and be the success we all could be proud of and I'm sorry but Pictures posted of numerous bars and dives with drinks in front of you in all these resorts doesn't really look even barely professional when you're supposed to be organising the greatest epic in Powerboat Racing .
Or am I wrong ?
Oh , And by the way. The lack of media during the Prologue , VITAL in bringing interest from outside and maybe that much needed sponsor or two was abysmal to an extreme and you should have just packed your bags and walked away from the moment the boats tied up in Poole

[blimp]

Claire - I apologise. I didn't realise Eric was doing the guys a favour. It shouldn't surprise me though as he's a good guy. However I didn't take him off the mailing list. He's still on the main mailing list, but the one you refer to was one for the team principals of entered teams ....a far smaller email that our primary one. This was explained fully to Eric over a number of emails recently.

Tim - where to start!?! Personal attacks aside, what photos of me enjoying beers at all the venues? Every venue has at least one, if not more highly placed local person fully plugged into the event and communicated with every few days. A genuine search of media around the venues would yield significant clippings. True, the event has failed to attract a title sponsor ...as has the sport for many, many years - this is a problem that can only be reversed by getting powerboating events into the public eye, and then the commercial partners can be attracted. Right, I'll go back to doing nothing then.

[scorpion]

Timtap - Mrs Smilie

you guys are coming across as really bitter and twisted with personal grievances against the organisers. Would it be so hard to get behind this event - whatever shape it took ?

[Mrs Smillie]

Originally Posted by scorpion

Timtap - Mrs Smilie

you guys are coming across as really bitter and twisted with personal grievances against the organisers. Would it be so hard to get behind this event - whatever shape it took ?

Let's not go here at all!!!!!!

[JB]

All of the above is exactly why you will never attract “new blood” to the sport! It doesn’t take a rocket surgeon to do a little due diligence and realise what a state offshore power boating is in!

First, please let me explain, I would like to make it clear that this is not an assault on the Venture Cup or an attack on anyone as I personally don’t know a single one of you just a completely impartial view as a power boating fan who returned from living in the middle east in 2011 and wanted to part with my hard earned tax free cash and buy a new powerboat and go racing.

The problem as I see it is instead of going for the grand daddy of races or “adventures” straight out the box (you can’t really count last years prologue as brand building in my opinion) you need to consentrate on building the “Venture Cup” into a recognised global brand in order to gain credibility both outside and inside the powerboat world. This in turn should attract the much needed sponsorship and press interest that is clearly lacking. Off the top of my head maybe a six race series each year running races say from Ibiza to Valencia and back, Dubai to Muscat etc etc etc then encompass the Cowes to Torquay as your crowning glory so to speak. Take for example Gumball 3000 you might think I’m comparing apples with oranges and although once a year the event has still run for over 14 years and attracts wealthy individuals owning and driving the worlds most expensive supercars year in year out. Ok it’s a “rally” not a race and involves cars but bet you wouldn’t mind an entry list like they attract and the publicity that runs with it! Not the kind of people you want to attract? Again that’s the problem, power boating is looking to the old school racers to populate such events instead of gaining the interest of folks outside of what seems a very “closed shop”. Concentrate on attracting the interest of wealthy non-boat racing folks and if you get them to bite then in turn they will then seek out the best boat manufactures and the paid services of the more experienced almost you! Like it or not you need this type of participants.

However, the major problem I have is although I love the water and powerboats what is there to attract me away from say racing in the Ferrari 458 challenge or the Lamborghini Super Trofeo series? In reality your asking for the same sort of financial commitment yet one of the above is recognised as the strongest brand in the world and with both you get to race on the greatest race tracks in the world and hospitality that is second to none but more importantly both are already a well proven entity! You see you guys are asking a lot of potential entrants to compete just for the love of the sport and power boating in general or as it stands now “one of the worlds greatest adventures”.

More importantly the greatest failing as I see it is the complete failure to grab modern technology by the scuff of the neck and wring (maybe spelt “ring” would be an appropriate pun) the hell out of it! The use of social media should have been used and abused not only to promote your event and attract the masses but also grab the interest of possible interested parties whatever their background! I am still completely amazed at the lack of any real information regarding the Venture Cup. To be honest my 16 year old niece could have created a more user friendly website and updated more regularly. Again using Gumball 3000 as a benchmark, within days of that years event ending their social media is awash with information regarding next years event! Personally I’ve found myself scratching around various boat forums over the past 24 months for little or any update as to what the hell was going on all utilising what precious little time I have. Information on such an event should not only flow but be trending worldwide months in advance!

I’m sure the Venture Cup guys have worked hard to get where they are but like anything in business or life in general if it isn’t working then make change! Look outside the box and recruit different people with fresh ideas if that’s what’s needed and forget the past build on what you can create in the future!

Again I reiterate the above is just MY impartial view and if any of my comments can help bolster the sport in the future then all the better if not then please fee free to ignore and tell me I’m talking rubbish! lol