A Giant Sailing Week online...

by Rob Kothe and The Sail-World Team on 1 Feb 2013 The world has changed beyond belief in the Internet years; sometimes we all get wrapped in our world and we dont think of how that change is impacting in other areas of life.

The changes are everywhere, last night a Paris Jazz station was giving me a different view of the music world via Internet streaming radio and as I write this editorial, I am listening to a Philadelphia Classic Rock station. This is the future of radio and the trend is accelerating. Imagine what that is doing to the traditional radio markets.

There is no way back. It’s the same thing that has happened in the sailing scene.

Sail-World and its 220,000 monthly readers, yes you are one of those, have been a major part of the shift from sailing magazines to sailing on line.

As well as turning the advertising spends upside down as advertisers have been forced to follow the audiences online, so this technology shift has had a major effect on key events and the events that have embraced new media are delivering hugely to their sponsors.

The Vendee Globe 2012-13 has had a huge online audience. Some two million sailors on Sail-World alone have been involved in the event. Last Sunday in Les Sables d’Olonne a giant crowd witnessed the historic finishes of winner François Gabart and second placed Armel Le Cléac’h but there was a much larger global audience online who shared the incredible experience.

The two French skippers shattered the race records, Gabart, 29 becoming the youngest skipper to win the Vendée Globe, lowering the course record to 78 days, two hours and 16 minutes 40 seconds and in so doing bettering Michel Desjoyeaux’s 2008-9 record by six days and 53 minutes.

The drama continues at sea with Jean-Pierre Dick (Virbac Paprec 3) moored keel-less to a buoy off the Spanish coast waiting for a weather window so that he can begin his 291 miles journey to the finish line. Back down the track Mike Golding, skipper of Gamesa is now limping homewards with keel issues.

On the local scene. At the Warren Jones International Youth Match Racing Regatta in Perth, now at the semi final stage with 25th World ranked David Gilmour lost just one match on his way through the round robins still favoured to win.

On video this week Emirates Team NZ crew members describe what it is like to sail aboard the AC72, the 72ft catamaran capable of sailing at speeds of over 40 knots and which will be used in the 34th America's Cup in San Francisco, starting in just five months time.

And some feedback on news from earlier in the week. We released our Sail-World Australian Racing toolbar on Tuesday and have been amazed at the response.

The toolbar provides access to our full news database, currently 105,000 stories, with images and result stretching back 16 years. This toolbar provides Breaking news tickers, Twitter feed and Facebook links, enables fast searches and has a handy drop down for a whole range of Sail-world key elements, access to all the latest Sail-World feature articles, content submit, full site search across that huge story content, access to the complete newsletter archives and of course newsletter subscribe.

So if you want to know what is happening on the Australian sailing scene and internationally NOW, install this toolbar Install toolbar here

Its available now for Internet Explorer (6-9) Firefox and Chrome (PC only).

We will be launching our New Zealand toolbar tomorrow, and then will come USA, Canadian, UK, Asian and European toolbars, with details on the relevant sites and with details in newsletters.