Three of the five regattas which comprise the 2010 Audi MedCup Circuit have now been contested, as the world’s leading regatta circuit visited three different countries, Portugal in May, France in June and Spain in July. Already the feedback from competing teams, the organizers and the host cities confirms that this is shaping up to be a fine vintage of a season. On the battle field, three different boats have won the season’s three different regatta trophies for both the TP52 and the GP42 Series.

The consensus from the teams in both the TP52 Series and the GP42 Series fleets is that on the water racing has never been closer, tougher or more open. Ashore, the city hosts, the sponsors, the Circuit organizers and most of all the visitors and Audi MedCup Circuit fans around the world are loving the new innovations which have made the Circuit and the sport all the more accessible.

In the TP52 Series and the GP42 Series three different boats have won the season’s three regattas so far. Emirates Team New Zealand (NZL), Quantum Racing (USA) and Artemis (SWE) have triumphed, as have Islas Canarias Puerto Calero (ESP), Iberdrola (ESP) and Madrid-Caser Seguros (ESP).

In the TP52 Series after 26 races, including two coastal races, all 11 TP52’s have now won at least one race. Emirates Team New Zealand lead the series by 28.5 points and are the TP52 team ahead of Quantum Racing who have actually won more races this season, seven to ETNZ’s six.  Last year Emirates Team New Zealand won overall by 74 points.  Five different TP52’s have finished on the podium this season, Emirates Team New Zealand, Audi A1 powered by ALL4ONE (FRA/GER), Artemis (SWE), Quantum Racing (USA) and Matador (ARG), but two of these TP52 teams have also now also finished regattas tenth of 10 boats which raced or 11th of eleven!

In the GP42 Series it could not be closer. The top two teams Madrid - Caser Seguros and Islas Canarias Puerto Calero are locked on 50 points apiece. They have sailed 23 races and Islas Canarias Puerto Calero have won seven races, whilst Madrid - Caser Seguros have won 10 races this season so far, and four of the Series’ five boats have been on the podium this season.

Promotion is the key
“In its sixth season, the MedCup Circuit more than ever looks to bring the sport of sailing to the wider public”, Marketing and Communications Director for World Sailing Management, Fernando Íñigo (ARG), says. “So we've added two new and very important venues, Cascais and Barcelona, which have already proven to be a complete success.”

Launched in 2009, the Audi MedCup Public Village has been an outstanding success, growing in popularity at each successive venue, peaking last month on the busy, extremely cosmopolitan dock-side in Barcelona’s Port Vell. “More than 250,000 people passed through the Public Village of Barcelona during the nine days it was open at the Moll de la Fusta, tripling our previous record”, Íñigo highlights.

“In addition, this year we have a strong commitment to promotion based on three innovations: Audi MedCup TV, without any doubt, the most outstanding new asset, which elevates the Circuit to be one of the great sporting events in Europe; Virtual Eye Interactive, a valuable tool in opening up the sport of sailing to the general public; and the Crew+ spot aboard each boat, a unique experience that few sports can match and that is priceless from the marketing and communications points of view.”

The success of Audi MedCup TV is unquestionable with excellent feedback from around the world and an audience which has been growing at each regatta. The combination of live action coverage from the race course with supporting 3-D real time tracking using Virtual Eye, and live comment, commentary and supporting interviews breaks completely new ground to achieve a truly global audience for a fleet racing circuit.

Also every race is stored on www.medcup.org/replay, so anyone can easily replay the competition action at any time.  

The latest innovation was launched to considerable acclaim at the Camper Regatta – Conde de Godó Trophy – Barcelona this month, the fully interactive Virtual Eye package which allows the user complete control of what perspective the user wants to take through the races. Again, all the races are stored on www.medcup.org/virtualeye for replay.

Finnaly, the Crew+ programme offers one spot per racing boat per day, to follow the racing from onboard. Sponsors, guests and journalists have a unique opportunity to be part of the action, while both the organisation and the teams can use this great tool to promote the Circuit. Up to 150 spots are available per event.

Next stop for the 2010 Audi MedCup Circuit is the Caja Mediterráneno Region of Murcia Trophy, August 24-29, to be held in Cartagena, a venue that showed last year to be one of the best of the calendar both on the water and ashore.