Commodores at the 5^th Forum in Perth exchanged ideas and best practices on sponsorship after a broad-ranging introduction to the basics from industry expert Bronwyn Lewis. Matt Allen (CYCA) presented a case study on the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race that began as a way to get away sailing on Boxing Day 1945. The race now has the biggest live sporting audience and is the most visited live sporting website with an audience growing at 20 per cent a year. The event reaches 400 million households. Part of this success is due to the yacht tracker system specifically developed for the race, which reports on boat position every ten minutes. (The system uses Google Earth for positioning and is available to other yacht clubs.) The relationship with Rolex is also crucial. The Sydney to Hobart is the only yacht race that makes their ‘iconic event’ category. Rolex provides much more than ‘cash and two Rolex watches’ for prizes. They staff the media side for the event and hire a media company to make a documentary that is shown around the world. Rolex executives come to town to assist and close relationships develop.

• John McNeill (StFYC) also emphasized the value of long-term relationships, agreeing with Matt that continuity is an important factor for major sponsors. Although club board members turn over frequently, a key sponsor must have stable contacts within the club. John said sponsorship ‘is just business’ and that clubs must respect sponsors’ schedules, marketing plans and goals, as well as providing excellent press and PR support while taking care to preserve club culture. Bronwyn and John both mentioned the importance of writing a contract and John provided a list of items to negotiate and agree on.
• Inge Strompf-Jepsen (RHKYC) agreed with John that the club must understand the sponsor’s goals and respect the sponsor. She cautioned not to promise something you cannot deliver, and to retain control. Media relations are important. Inge presented several questions for further discussion.
• Ragnar Klevaas (RNYC) gave the Scandinavian perspective. In Scandinavia football and winter sports dominate the media. RNYC’s biggest event is an overnight race that involves 5000–10,000 sailors. The event has a sponsor who specifically wants to reach the competitors as individuals.
• Russell Murphy (RPAYC) talked about the downside of sponsorship, mentioning the time commitment, underestimating what is needed and the possibility that the sponsor might walk away.
• Craig Peploe (RNZYS) discussed the need to have someone doing the ‘leg work’. While recruitment is done by ‘big hitters’ (the Board and General Manager) sponsor maintenance needs constant work by a designated staff member. The consensus is that 80 per cent of the work is in maintaining existing sponsors, while 20 per cent is needed to get new sponsors. Bronwyn pointed out the need to know the value of the yacht club brand, and polled the audience to ask which clubs had had their brand professionally evaluated.

Several delegates mentioned leaving the session with a new vision for sponsorship for their own clubs.