Aboard
Silver Whisper

And, If Desired:
Free
(Or Nearly Free)
Sponsorship
Opportunities
See Below.

VOYAGE 4303 - America’s Cup Special Events Join Silversea for a complimentary World Class Event - The America's Cup as Auckland, magnificent City of Sails, plays host. Experience all the excitement in luxurious style aboard Silver Whisper as we follow the races to Kawau Island. Sail the sparkling waters around verdant island gems, taking in the Bay of Islands' stunning scenery. Sip champagne under the impossibly blue skies as a squadron of rainbow colored sails slice through the whitecaps into view. Silver Whisper will be there providing the "best seat in the house." Follow the competition on deck on any of a number of large-screen televisions, and all the action will be announced by Bob Billingham, a former America's Cup sailor and principal in The Base Club, a VIP hospitality centre at Viaduct Harbor. To complement The America's Cup races, you will be Silversea's guest on a visit to the Squadron, current home of the Cup and of Team New Zealand. View the grand super yachts decked out for the world's largest and most prestigious regatta. For a quieter moment amid the celebrations, enjoy a complimentary outing to the historic preserve of Kawau Island. Signature Cuisine On every Silversea voyage, guests are offered the opportunity to experience unique new flavors and gourmet fare with the sumptuous creations of La Collection du Monde - 30 signature dishes, created exclusively for Silversea in partnership with Relais & Chateaux - Relais Gourmands. Enrichment Series Guest Lecturer Philip Martin studied Labor Economics and Agricultural Economics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he earned a Ph.D. in 1975. He is Professor of Agricultural and Resource Economics at the University of California-Davis, and chair of the University of California's 60 member Comparative Immigration and Integration Program. Martin has published extensively on labor migration, economic development, and immigration policy issues, and has testified before Congress and state and local agencies numerous times on these issues. Shipboard Attire Shipboard attire ranges from casual to formal. Sport outfits and resort wear are appropriate for daytime activities on board and ashore. Shoes should be flat or low-heeled for deck activities, comfortable and sturdy for shoreside ventures. For evening wear there are three categories: casual, informal and formal. On casual evenings, open neck shirts, slacks and sport outfits may be worn; informal evenings call for dresses or pantsuits, men wear jackets (tie optional); for formal evenings, ladies may want to bring an evening gown or cocktail dress and men a tuxedo, dinner jacket or dark suit. This voyage is scheduled to have 2 formal nights, 4 informal, and 3 casual nights. As a rule, the first night of every cruise is casual. This information is for your guidance only and is subject to change. The ship will inform you of the nightly dress code once aboard.

Sponsorship Opportunities

For those interested in sponsoring special events, Luxury Cruise offers the expertise of Jerry Gross, a sports marketing executive who has run corporate-sponsorship and VIP hospitality programs at three America's Cup events.       

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A choice of several special race-related events to leverage
your company’s association with America’s Cup 2003

 If your company is the sponsor, or an official supplier, to any of the 2003 racing teams, we offer several ways to use the Silver Whisper cruise to host and entertain your VIP customers.  To help make being aboard the Silver Whisper the "happening place," a number of special events and promotions aboard the cruise ship are available for sponsorship.  If your company has booked passengers aboard the America’s Cup racing cruise, these sponsorships will be at no extra cost to you.

The only costs of a sponsorship are for rental of exclusive function space aboard the ship, and the cost of any special-ordered food and beverage services.  

Sponsors of America’s Cup syndicates have the opportunity to host onboard events – breakfasts, luncheons, cocktail parties, race-related lectures and briefings,  and special dinners.   These may include themed meal functions, themed cocktail receptions, occasions for speakers and presentations, "contests" featuring America's Cup sailors, Silver Whisper passengers and other participants, and more. Some examples of sponsorship availabilities:  

Meet the Skippers dinner series -- skippers of the racing syndicates which competed in the Louis Vuitton Cup will be invited to appear, one at a time or in small groups, as dinner speakers.   

Meet the Unsung Heroes parties -- cocktail receptions with a number of sailors who did all the hard work on the eliminated America's Cup racing teams: not the skippers who get the glory, but the "working grunts."  

The Mixed Grill press luncheons – one or more luncheons where the "journos" covering the event are guest panelists, and give their views and behind-the-scenes anecdotes on the current America’s Cup races.  They occasionally might invite a guest and “grill” him or her.  Silver Whisper passengers would be invited to ask questions of the journalists and their guests.   

The Bloody Brunch Bunch – one to a regular series of morning events featuring Bloody Marys and brunch.   Guests of the sponsor’s choice from the America’s Cup scene would be featured speakers. 

Of special interest to the Cup Sponsor Community:

Business, Marketing and Technology Events

          In addition to the social events and activities outlined above, sponsors have an opportunity to host events that will appeal to America’s Cup participants, the media, and – of course – the passengers aboard this historic cruise.  Creating and hosting such events will set a new standard for providing interesting and useful information that goes far beyond the entertainment value of just watching the races.  Some examples: 

Yacht Racing and the America's Cup: the Beautiful Sport for Vicious Competitors – sponsors may elect to host a regular series of presentations featuring sailors who compete on the Swedish Match Grand Prix Sailing Tour.  This is the professional racing circuit for world-class skippers and sailors when they are not competing in America’s Cup events.  Topics they could cover and explain, giving sponsor guests and Silver Whisper passengers an "insiders' view" of what the sport -- and the America's Cup -- are all about:  

· Advanced technology and its impact on sailing.  High tech vs. traditional ways to design, build and race sailboats; the cost impact of this creeping elegance; views on whether technology is a blessing or a curse; what computer and other high-tech sponsors predict the future will bring, and so on. 

· The America's Cup: the Designers' Derby.  The America's Cup, which allows "creative room" in its design rules for naval architects to try to create faster boats, has always featured a battle between designers. What are the issues, challenges and trade-offs this time around?  

· The Competitive World of Sailmakers: They Race To Sell.  Why are so many sailmakers "racing fools"?  To sell.  They often spend as much time competing in sailboat races as they do designing sails.  Is this way of life "the way," or on the way out?  World-class sail designers tell us what they do, and how the Cup affects their contributions to everyday sailors and boat owners.  

· Boatyard Bums: a Look at the Insane World of Boatbuilders.  People who build boats -- from the painfully expensive IACC racing sloops to ordinary sailboats -- give us a look at their specialized but highly important world.  

· Sports Marketing Forum.  The Swedish Match Grand Prix, sports marketing experts and agencies, sponsors, and organizers of yacht racing events all will share their knowledge with the Luxury Cruise Silversea passengers.  Topics to be covered:  Why sponsors associate with sailing, how the America's Cup and other yacht racing events are funded and run, the growth of the international yacht racing circuit, the impact of commercialism on the Corinthian tradition, the recruitment, care and feeding of sponsors, how yacht racing compares to other (more popular and often more financially expensive) sports, and more.  

Contests and other excitement builders:

Another set of sponsorship opportunities  

In addition to special events based on parties and meal functions, our seagoing VIP hospitality venue aboard the Silver Whisper can hold a wide spectrum of other attention-getting events. Some ideas available to sponsors:  

Funniest Videotapes of the America's Cup – Sailing teams, and TV networks covering the event, generate miles of videotape and film.   A sponsor could encourage, and give prizes, for “outtakes” showing funny or embarrassing moments during races, team practices, press conferences, social events, and the like.  

Talent Night – a sponsor could host this event one or more times aboard the Silver Whisper.  It will combine elements of Karaoke, sing-alongs, unstructured Open Mike appearances, and a talent contest.  Entries in the talent contest could be America’s Cup participants – from sailors to shore crew to office staffers to sponsors.  And representatives of various racing syndicates naturally would be encouraged to compete against each other.  

Sea Chantey "concert series" – in this event, a sponsor would work with the entertainers aboard the Silver Whisper to perform old traditional sea chanteys, and to write and perform contemporary new ones.  (Sailors Delight, Sponsors Lament, Yacht Club Blues, Life Upon the Wicked Sea Ain't Nothing That a Girl Supposes -- the topics that can be put in chantey form are virtually endless.) We'll encourage the new chanteys to insult or poke fun at individuals, teams and anything else related to the America's Cup, and yacht racing and sailing in general. Prizes for "best of show" in various categories could and should be awarded.   

Wine Tastings – a sponsor could host one or more wine tastings.  If desired, separate tastings could be hosted for various countries (Australian wine night, New Zealand wine night, Spanish wine night, French, etc.), and for various U.S. wine regions.  

America’s Cup Follies – on selected occasions when the Silver Whisper is in port or anchored offshore, a sponsor could stage a wacky "race" or other light-hearted competitive event. Many of these could use the Silver Whisper’s on-the-water site to good advantage, such as:  

-- Jet ski races between two America's Cup syndicates.  These would be conducted right next to the Silver Whisper, where everyone aboard the ship can easily watch, cheer, and place friendly wagers on who'll win. And,

 -- Golf long-driving contests.  A sponsor could host this event one or more times.   It will involve setting up a golf mat from which participants can hit golf balls out into our "aqua-range," with prizes to the longest drive. The Silver Whisper also has a golf simulator, with famous course to "play."  America’s Cup sponsors, guests, competitors  AND Silver Whisper passengers alike would be invited to enter, and compete for prizes.

 These informal “competitions” could be further tailored to be conducted as a Challenge series, much like the America's Cup itself.  That is, any racing syndicate could challenge another in any of the event categories described here.  (Print media also could be encouraged to challenge TV broadcasters, SINS (this is an actual organization, the “Society of International Nautical Scribes”) journalists can challenge "landlubber media," Silver Whisper passengers can challenge their deck officers or staff, and so on.)

Don’t see an event you’d like to sponsor?

Then you’re invited to create one of your own.

           Finally, sponsors of the teams in the America’s Cup finals are invited to create and run events aboard Silversea.   Any event a sponsor would care to host naturally would have to be approved by the Silver Whisper captain.  But we are flexible here, and want to encourage sponsors to help their VIP customers and guests do more than simply watch the finals from the special vantage point of the Silversea.  We also want to work closely with event sponsors to help these VIP guests have the most enjoyable America’s Cup experience possible. 

 E-Mail: JerryGross@iVoya.com

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The America's Cup Races On Silver Whisper