Big Pimpin’
The Yacht Racing Forum was launched 10 years ago in Monaco by the Informa Group; the event has since been taken over by Bernard Schopfer and his Geneva-based agency MaxComm, who organise the event with passion, determination and a long term vision.
Today the Forum is in good shape and attracts a growing number of the sports’ leading personalities and brands. (Although it is worth noting that SA has never been officially invited. Hard to imagine true personalities who have had as much impact as we have – ed).
The reasons for this success? ‘We are here for the entire sport, from kiteboarding to superyachts, and the industry that supports the sailors involved. The chance to engage in dialogue here is very important to us’, says Andy Hunt, World Sailing CE.
The delicate alchemy between the relevance of the conferences, the quality of the networking, the level of the speakers and the business achieved is at the heart of a successful Forum. This year’s conference will emphasise the sports’ leading events: America’s Cup, Vendée Globe, Volvo Ocean Race and Class Ultime (what a year for our sport, by the way!). But the event will also focus on mainstream yacht racing, club management and the most popular sailing classes, with conferences focusing on sponsorship, media exposure, sustainability and much more.
Read on.
