Double Handed Offshore Q&A with... Ollie Schwall

Ollie Schwall delivered the Sailing Champions League and inspired strong participation amongst yacht clubs. He has now turned his efforts to delivering a Mixed Offshore World Series project and shares his vision for the series here.

What makes mixed offshore sailing so appealing? And what made you want to create a series for the sailors?
 
It was long overdue that we include offshore sailing as an Olympic discipline. It is a spectacular format within our beautiful sport which most sailors in the world practise (though not on a professional level), and it is easy for everyone to understand – for spectators, fans and media. The mixed idea fits also perfectly into our “zeitgeist.” When I was at the World Sailing Conference in Bermuda, I realised that the idea of including double handed mixed sailing in the Olympic circus was born, but we still had no answer to the question of how exactly this discipline should be implemented. There was and still is no decision for the boat material, there are no established double handed mixed one-design formats or events, and the World Cups do not know how to integrate this discipline into their events in the future. I have gained a lot of experience as a former Olympic sailor with my company and my team during the last year, developing the “Sailing Bundesliga” (a National Sailing League in Germany), the “Sailing Champions League” and the “Nord Stream Race.” We have to inspire the athletes; we need top Partner Clubs to organise the events, we have to deliver professional PR and social media work, we need professional broadcasting, we need strong partners, we need a professional race management and finally a good team set-up. We have all of this in our portfolio, so the decision to implement the Mixed Offshore World Series is a logical next step for us.
 
Is the intention for the series to begin on a regional, national and then an international circuit? How can nations build themselves to compete at the highest level?
 
We will do the same with the National Leagues and the Sailing Champions League. We are, so to speak, the front-runners and idea generators, and will openly share our experiences and findings with everyone. We are used to working with checklists and documentation, so we will soon be able to help other regions in the world with the development work and to support each other and improve in both directions. In the end, the ingredients are obvious: boats, three to four hosting clubs, good race management, a few top teams from different nations and the courage to implement it. The rest happens almost organically.
 
A series such as this requires funding. What sponsorship opportunities are there?
 
There will be sponsorship packages, although we are not primarily counting on them. The Mixed Offshore World Series should become established and function stably even without sponsorship money. Once we have proven that the new World Series has been well received by sportsmen and women, the media, the associations and the fans, it will automatically become attractive for potential sponsors. Of course, it is important to mention that the partners, who together with us hold the boat material, already invest a considerable amount of money in this format.
 
What opportunities are there for boat builders with a series like this?
 
I am firmly convinced that the Mixed Offshore World Series will attract enormous attention worldwide. The topic is “hot” because it is new, it is innovative and the offshore/double handed/mixed concept will work well in the media. There is a lot of potential for companies in terms of brand building and brand awareness.
 
At the same time, the company gets the chance to further optimise its equipment. We will collect feedback and optimisation ideas and approaches from the teams, so that the equipment is continuously improved by the best sailors in the world. To what extent these aspects will influence the final decision for the equipment for the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, I am not able to judge. Maybe it helps a little bit to position oneself in pole position.