Editorial- Another Kiwi punching above his weight

by nzeditor@sail-world.com on 16 May 2007 Welcome to Sail-World.Com/NZ’s mid-week newsletter.

As most are aware our America’s Cup news is being covered in a separate newsletter each race day.

Today the first racing in the Congressional Cup got underway off the Long Beach Yacht Club. New Zealand’s Simon Minoprio holds the lead with a perfect 5-0 score. He is the only Kiwi skipper in the regatta aside from Scott Dickson (brother of Chris) who lives in Long Beach. The regatta has attracted some of the higher ranked skippers on the international match racing circuit – and there are five of Minoprio’s 'betters' at the event – making the Kiwi effort even more laudable. We’ll be featuring daily reports from the Congressional Cup by Rich Roberts.

The other event of note is in YNZ Briefings,with the announcement that former YNZ CEO is one of three women to have been awarded a diploma by the International Olympic Committee for her nomination for the World 'Women in Sport Trophy'. The presentation was made at the ISAF Mid-Year meeting by the ISAF President and the IOC President, Jacques Rogge who paid a surprise visit.

At Sail-World we continue to rise in the Alexa.com ratings. Now we are the 175th most popular website in New Zealand and the second most popular sports website. This newsletter is going out to 15,000 individuals in New Zealand and internationally. Our America’s Cup Newsletter is going out each race day to 28,000 individuals worldwide.

Many of these are visiting the Sail-World New Zealand website, which accounts for the fact that New Zealand now has 40% of the Sail-World traffic of around 700,000 unique visitors per year. The traffic we are currently experiencing exceeds that generated during the Sydney Hobart race which has been our peak for a number of years.

We have appointed Colin Preston to handle local marine industry advertising sales. He will be at the Auckland Boatshow tomorrow, Thursday, to have a chat to prospective advertisers, and show how Sail-World can work for your business. Colin can be contacted on (021) 267 4842

Also at the Boat Show will be the America’s Cup DVD which is being sold as a fundraiser by the World Optimist team as a fundraiser. If you would like a copy stop by their stand (801) and purchase a copy and at the same time help some young sailors get their first taste of international competition. The America’s Cup History DVd is also available through the Optimists at the Boat Show.

Good sailing!

Richard Gladwell
NZ Editor