James Pleasance – Executive Director of the World Match Racing Tour talks about where match racing sits in the wider sailing world and new initiatives to provide access and increase diversity in the sport.

Bookmarks, Shownotes & Further Reading

• 00:20 – This week’s guest is James Pleasance, Executive Director of the World Match Racing Tour.
• 03:06 – The final of the World Match Racing Tour (WMRT) in 2022 will be in Sydney
• 05:48 – The WMRT is organised differently from other global sporting tours with less need to move equipment from one venue to another.
• 07:12 – What do rights holders look for in a venue? What are venues looking to get out of staging a WMRT event?
• 10:00 – Do what degree has the changing trends in boats impacted the WMRT? Where do foiling boats and multihulls fit in with match racing? The 69F might be a way to add a foiling option to the tour.
• 14:37 – Is the World Match Racing Tour still a pathway to the America’s Cup?
• 16:15 – Where does television fit into the media landscape?
• 12:54 – The technology exists for the production to be done from an office in London, no matter where the event is taking place. SailGP also umpires matches from a remote location, requiring some high-tech solutions to ensure there is no latency.
• 22:50 – The impact of wearables and other data sources as part of the fan experience.
• 25:45 – There is a need to weigh the advantages given by technology such as wearables with the sporting challenge that is match racing. Should these technologies be allowed or not?
• 27:24 – How to get the balance right, between super-fans and purists versus new audiences that are coming to an event for the first time.
• 31:14 – What technologies will impact the tour going forward? Officiating the races remotely has a sustainability impact. Wifi connected cameras allow photos to be sent to editors or sponsors within 60 seconds. The fan experience will change with VR style camera shots.
• 34:28 – How can gaming be used to change the interaction between the series and fans?
• 36:36 – How could the entire World Match Racing Tour become a tokenomic based system? It’s already a decentralised organisation. Every tour-card and trophy could be an NFT that allocates winnings to competitors or payments between stakeholders. Takes the SailGP DAO to a whole new level.
• 39:00 – Catch up on the episode of Yacht Business where we talk to Jonny Dodge.
• 39:31 – There is a great narrative and ability to align sponsor messaging with match-racing which can extend into WEb3 and cryptocurrency.
• 40:00 – The immutable ledger which is the blockchain could be used for rankings and sailing CVs.
• 41:19 – The Women’s World Match Racing Tour has been launched.
• 43:39 – Could match racing make a return to the Olympics in the future? Perhaps if the rules were changed to allow sailors to medal in multiple events.
• 45:02 – Cultural diversity could be a larger problem than gender diversity. What initiatives are the World Match Racing Tour working on in this area?

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