Venture Cup

[Carl]

lovely pics thanks

[Mike Ring]

Despite all that has been written in this thread , I for one am really pleased the race was run and it was minute by minute excitement all the way with electronics failures giving nail biting gaps in the progress of the race.!

Well done and thanks to everybody that helped stage and competed in the race.

Did anyone ever expect things to go according to plan ? Goalposts were moved before engines were fired up at the start !
Lessons surely have been learned and will be incorporated into The Big One

Roll on the race proper and lets hope those entries keep rolling in.

Mike

[OCRDA]

I will second that Mike !! Are you entered for the next one ??

[RichardC]

Thankyou to all for the positive comments re the race. It certainly was an adventure in more ways than one! .

[blimp]

Thanks to all that have sent on messages to the team over the past few days. No problem at all with criticism ....we're fully aware that lessons HAVE to be learned from this, and a major warts 'n all review will be started in the next 48 hours, with contributions invited from all parties.

I can assure all that there's no back-slapping going on within the organising team. While this was an awesome few days racing, it still remains only a waypoint on a longer, and more significant journey.

I know some have felt that the press-releases weren't as forthcoming as people may have liked. This was a strategic decision. We've got limited 'bandwidth' in terms of what we can realistically do properly while we ran the event. For the potential sponsors that were watching us, they already know that the 'press release & pr team' model works. It's been proven millions of times. What doesn't have a strong precedent is the online experience of a live powerboat race ....would people follow it, would they engage and interact with it, how long would they stay engaged for? I know that a lot of people on here may not 'get' or 'do' social media (a strange confession for some, when you consider that the whole area began with forums just like this) but the people sponsors are trying to engage with, do use these platforms and if we can prove success in this area, then we're one step closer. That was the reason why we zoned in on the 'online' experience for the Prologue.

Despite the fact that we had a tracking visual experience that's now somewhat dated, and a cobbling together of existing social media platforms, we still saw great numbers ....as those that engaged with it can testify to. (try to imagine what the live online experience would be like with a really modern visual animation of the racing, live noise from the engines, full telemetry, etc)

We did put one push on the traditional media model ...just to test if that side could still be mobilised. This was done in Jersey where media boats, onshore interviews, BBC, ITV, etc. all were activated successfully.

So ....please bear with us. There are times when it seems that we haven't a clue what we're doing. Sometimes there's a plan at play, and other times it's perfectly true ...but we're always learning.

[Renegade]

We'll done guys I am available if you need my input on a Del brief re some of the London stuff.
Paul

[topgun]

Originally Posted by blimp

Thanks to all that have sent on messages to the team over the past few days. No problem at all with criticism ....we're fully aware that lessons HAVE to be learned from this, and a major warts 'n all review will be started in the next 48 hours, with contributions invited from all parties.

I can assure all that there's no back-slapping going on within the organising team. While this was an awesome few days racing, it still remains only a waypoint on a longer, and more significant journey.

I know some have felt that the press-releases weren't as forthcoming as people may have liked. This was a strategic decision. We've got limited 'bandwidth' in terms of what we can realistically do properly while we ran the event. For the potential sponsors that were watching us, they already know that the 'press release & pr team' model works. It's been proven millions of times. What doesn't have a strong precedent is the online experience of a live powerboat race ....would people follow it, would they engage and interact with it, how long would they stay engaged for? I know that a lot of people on here may not 'get' or 'do' social media (a strange confession for some, when you consider that the whole area began with forums just like this) but the people sponsors are trying to engage with, do use these platforms and if we can prove success in this area, then we're one step closer. That was the reason why we zoned in on the 'online' experience for the Prologue.

Despite the fact that we had a tracking visual experience that's now somewhat dated, and a cobbling together of existing social media platforms, we still saw great numbers ....as those that engaged with it can testify to. (try to imagine what the live online experience would be like with a really modern visual animation of the racing, live noise from the engines, full telemetry, etc)

We did put one push on the traditional media model ...just to test if that side could still be mobilised. This was done in Jersey where media boats, onshore interviews, BBC, ITV, etc. all were activated successfully.

So ....please bear with us. There are times when it seems that we haven't a clue what we're doing. Sometimes there's a plan at play, and other times it's perfectly true ...but we're always learning.

It was great to see the boats on the Island, do you know how many "hits" the yellow brick had, would be interesting. Also with the tracking system could for example a go-pro camera be fitted to each race boat. This could also help solve disputes as well as provide great footage.(works on F1)
Congrats on what was achieved, looking forward to the next event

Steve

[DAVE]

In the light of Health and safety, all the tight new (and not always wise) rules and regs, and not to mention finance, it was great to have a major race to witness , in my case via Yellowbrick and the VC website. The organisers, supporters and the race teams that competed did exeptionally well IMHO to hold a race at all and respect to them.
Glitches and hiccups are to be expected in an event of this nature, even the smaller single venue ones have those, I know from experience.... I think a lot of people were waiting for the whole thing to fall on its face but it didnt, and it bodes well to hold the "Big Race" with a lot of experience to learn from.
Congratulations .

[topgun]

Originally Posted by topgun

It was great to see the boats on the Island, do you know how many "hits" the yellow brick had, would be interesting. Also with the tracking system could for example a go-pro camera be fitted to each race boat. This could also help solve disputes as well as provide great footage.(works on F1)
Congrats on what was achieved, looking forward to the next event

Steve

No answer again! bit clicky some of you guys.
The question was asked because some of our local racers have go-pro and it works well, with the huge costs involved with the larger boats a camera plus tracker would not be outside of their budgets surely.

Be nice to hear someone elses thoughts on this even if I am not a marathon race organiser or well recognised boat manufacturer.

[DAVE]

Originally Posted by topgun

No answer again! bit clicky some of you guys.
The question was asked because some of our local racers have go-pro and it works well, with the huge costs involved with the larger boats a camera plus tracker would not be outside of their budgets surely.

Be nice to hear someone elses thoughts on this even if I am not a marathon race organiser or well recognised boat manufacturer.

I think you're right about the go-pro and a lot of people use them...probably more interesting footage in BCC / GPA races where other boats can be seen. In long haul endurance races once the start has gone and they start to spread out the only thing to be seen is a bobbing nose against sea and/or sky.

The technology Rory Power showed me a few years back that they used in XCATS was excellent and showed the actual track, and not just sudden updates in a straight line from the last one a few minutes before...cant remember what it was called, and may not be suitable for endurance....

[Paul E]

To broadcast live unfortunatey it's a lot more involved than just sticking on a GoPro... It would be virtually impossible to do from the middle of the ocean

[DAVE]

Originally Posted by Paul E

To broadcast live unfortunatey it's a lot more involved than just sticking on a GoPro... It would be virtually impossible to do from the middle of the ocean

I meant for footage to be shown after the event...live broadcast is another ballgame as you rightly say...

[OCRDA]

Originally Posted by DAVE

I think you're right about the go-pro and a lot of people use them...probably more interesting footage in BCC / GPA races where other boats can be seen. In long haul endurance races once the start has gone and they start to spread out the only thing to be seen is a bobbing nose against sea and/or sky.

The technology Rory Power showed me a few years back that they used in XCATS was excellent and showed the actual track, and not just sudden updates in a straight line from the last one a few minutes before...cant remember what it was called, and may not be suitable for endurance....

Virtual Eye !!

[topgun]

Originally Posted by DAVE

I meant for footage to be shown after the event...live broadcast is another ballgame as you rightly say...

Hi Dave, I can appreciate as you say the seperation of the boats in this type of race, I just thought with Warpath & Cinzano together through some nasty weather it would have been great to see. Hopefully backing is secured for the future that would include helicopter footage.

Paul, watching you race last weekend I think a helicopter would have been in danger, great to watch as was the rest of the fleet.

Steve

[DAVE]

Originally Posted by OCRDA

Virtual Eye !!

Good shout Bob....that could well be it....

[blimp]

Just a quick one on this (s'posed to be on downtime today). We've said all along that once the fleet leave port we've no longer got a 'spectator sport' and it therefore needs to become a 'consumed sport'. We're well down the track on discussions with a number of suppliers from across the globe with this and, given budget, we know we can deliver something ground-breaking for next year.

This year simple proved that people will indeed follow a long multi-day, multi-venue powerboat race online ....despite the limitations of the tech being deployed.

Our full review will shake out all the stats and that begins over the weekend.

[Scarron]

For a long multi day, multi venue powerboat event being broadcast well via Facebook its worth checking out

Virgin Atlantic Challenger II - The voyage home [Mallorca to Plymouth]

https://www.facebook.com/virginatlantic.challenger

There's an entry London - Monte needs

[Matt]

I was about to post a link to VACII myself - enjoying their updates a lot.

[Tremlett 15]

Originally Posted by Matt

I was about to post a link to VACII myself - enjoying their updates a lot.

+ 1

[Brambles]

Dear Blimp,

First may I say a huge congratulations to you & the team for getting this done. I followed it on yellow brick after we bailed out from a trip to Guernsey to see you all, due to the bad weather.

If you are in the mood for some constructive critisism then could you please ponder the following:

I have looked at your website & followed your Facebook feed but why do we still not have any "proper reporting" of this event? I'm a fan but I'm still none the wiser as to why Warpath ran low on fuel at one end of the spectrum & as an example at the other end what's the story behing the broken windscreen on Grey Ghost? I'm sure there are a hundred stories inbetween but we don't know. Can you let me know of another sport that keeps its fans in the dark like powerboat racing? Why didn't you have a reporter asking these questions &, well reporting it? & please don't confuse Facebook updates with sports reporting.

The VAC 11 Facebook reference above is not really relevant as it's like asking the crew to do your job for you.

I'd appreciate your views on this.