Grant Dalton confirms discussions with Telefonica on Volvo Ocean Race

by Richard Gladwell on 2 Dec 2009
Emirates Team NZ CEO, Grant Dalton has confirmed to Sail-World that he has been in discussion with Spanish telco Telefonica regarding an involvement in the next Volvo Ocean Race.

Dalton would not disclose the specifics of his involvement, saying: 'It is no secret of my desire to be involved in the Volvo Ocean Race and yes I have spoken to Telefonica. There is no commitment at this stage from either party. I have also stated a number of times that Emirates Team New Zealand should consider expanding its horizons, the successful TP52 season is an example of that and the Volvo Ocean Race must be considered as well.'

Sail-World has spoken to several international media sources who confirmed their belief that Dalton was discussing a CEO and skipper role with Telefonica who had two entries in the last edition Volvo Ocean Race.

While many of those spoken to by Sail-World believed Dalton was to depart Emirates Team New Zealand, it is not believed that this is the case. Dalton is expected to drop back into a role for the professional team, similar to that adopted by Sir Peter Blake in the 2000 America's Cup Defence in New Zealand, leaving Dean Barker as skipper and Kevin Shoebridge in an Operations role. Dalton would obviously have a more hands on role with the Volvo Ocean Race type projects.

A more likely scenario is an arrangement along the lines the set out in an interview given in http://www.yachtonline.it/people-en/grant-dalton-italian-style!Yacht_Capital in September where the veteran of seven Volvo Ocean races was interviewed by Carla Anselmi in the context of a Volvo Ocean Race in conjunction with Yacht Club Costa Smeralda (ITA) : 'Now we’ve got the new rating rules, we’re already in the initial phases of the project. I can tell you that the designer is Marcelino Botin, who I’ve already worked with extensively, and who designed the VO70 Puma. We’ve signed an agreement with Botin & Carkeek, so the studio can use ETNZ’s human and technical resources to create designs for the next VOR, but not just for us. It’s because we think it’s vital to start early. Maybe we’ll never take part in the races, but we’ve launched the project, so when the time comes we’ll have time and we’ll be ready to start, even if we get the money late!'

The prestigious Italian yacht club have since backed away from the project, putting their resources into the Louis Vuitton Trophy Team, however Sail-World believes that a similar arrangement may be on the table with Telefonica.

Sail-World was advised by a European source that Marcello Botin, will be designer of the Telefonica's. Botin, a lead designer of Emirates Team NZ's last America's Cup entry and also of their TP52 NZL-380 which won the recently concluded Audi MedCup Series by a substantial margin. That design involvement fits with the YCCS scenario, rather than one in which Dalton exits the team.

Dalton is expected to drop back into a role for the professional team, similar to that adopted by Sir Peter Blake in the 2000 America's Cup Defence in New Zealand, leaving Dean Barker as skipper and Kevin Shoebridge in an Operations role. Dalton would obviously have a more hands on role with the Volvo Ocean Race type projects.

'I’ve been 'lent' to the Cup, but my past and my roots are in the Round-the-World, it’s my great love,' Dalton told Yacht Capital in September.

Telefonica entered two boats in the last Volvo Ocean Race - Telefonica Black and Telefonica Blue, as did race winner Ericsson.

Two boat campaigns are banned in the next edition of the Volvo Ocean race, and one possibility could be for Team New Zealand to run a second team, sponsored by by Telefonica and with with a strong operational relationship to reduce costs and improve the chances of success for both crews and their sponsor. It is believed that one of the Telefonica boats, if the sponsor is to run two boats would be an all Spanish crew. The team is led by Pedro Campos (59) as Director General of the organisation. A second boat could be New Zealand flagged, meaning that a Volvo Ocean Race stopover was a strong possibility for a New Zealand port, probably Auckland.

Emirates Team New Zealand still have a base in Valencia, Spain, a logical facility from which to run the Volvo Ocean race team.

The next three editions of the Volvo Ocean race are scheduled to be run out of Alicante, Spain, and local interest in Spain is running high, with long term commitments being made by teams. In the previous edition, Telefonica Blue (Bouwe Bekking) finished third overall, with a largely Spanish crewed Telefonica Black (Fernando Echavarri) finished sixth in the eight strong fleet.

Clearly Telefonica will be looking to boost their performance in the next race, and the Team New Zealand relationship, combined with Dalton's Round the World experience could provide that lift.

Alternatively, if the next America's Cup were deferred until 2013, then Dalton could both work with Telefonica and remain with the team in a similar role Sir Peter Blake in the buildup to 2000 America's Cup, but leaving the TP52 competition and Louis Vuitton Trophy campaigning in the hands of Barker and Shoebridge.

An agreement is expected to be signed next week, followed by a definitive announcement.