Last week, a quite well respected website listed a self styled Power 100, listing the most influential people in sport, but unsurprisingly there was no-one from sailing or yacht racing. But it got us thinking.

We have been sifting through hundreds of listings for this year’s Dark Blue Book, which are in no particular order and will end up mostly being published alphabetically, but who are the real movers and shakers? Who are the people who move the sport forwards (or backwards) based on their influence?

Once you start thinking about such an idea, you’re forced to think about objective criteria by which to make an evaluation.

Are there 100? Or is the number of people who actually move the needle closer t0 50, or 20? Are they elected? Do they come and go or are they entrenched? How many are women? Is power and influence in the hands of the media, or is it sponsors, or suppliers or athletes?

If you had to choose. Who would you rank as the most influential people in yacht racing – and why?

We’re opening it up. Send us your suggestions. You can have up to 3 nominations and you have to tell us why they are on your list. We’ll compile them together, create a shortlist and then let you vote for your finalists. The winners will get something cool.

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The directory is growing from strength to strength and so we’ve added some new folk to the team to help deliver a great 3rd edition.

Pilote Media is happy to have the French/American sailing communication team of Duff and Fred Eagle onboard for the 2011 edition of the Dark Blue Book. Good friends and associates located in the sailing hot beds of Les Sables d’Olonne and San Francisco, Duff and Fred are passionate about every facet of international sailing and manage the social media communications for French sailing legend Loïck Peyron.

Both accomplished photojournalists who have been published worldwide, the duo have been collaborating for the past few years and successfully chipping away at the language barrier often found in professional sailing. This endeavor will come to complete fruition this summer when the two introduce the French/English sailing website dropsail.com. We are pleased to utilize their strengths for the creation of this years Dark Blue Book”

Fred says:

“Working on the Dark Blue Book is very exciting and I believe 2011 will be a defining year for the publication. The sailing world is constantly evolving and The Dark Blue Book is an incredible source for professional organizations and individuals who require the latest and greatest information from the leaders of the sailing industry.

David Fuller, Editor of the Dark Blue Book says:

The world of yacht racing is global. It’s great to have a local presence in some of sailing’s most iconic centers of activity to spread the word and make sure the best people are making the most of the opportunity that being listed in the directory brings.

Find more about listing options here.

Jablonski led Desafio Espanol to a third place finish in the 2007 Louis Vuitton Cup and has more recently been involved in the RC44 and Audi MedCup.

He said in a statement:

“I have raced all kinds of boats and have held different positions on them. I was even an Olympic coach. I am happy to contribute in every way that I can to the Argo Challenge. It is important to work together to make sure that the team is successful. “The Argo Challenge team will set an example for everyone who has ever had anything go wrong that perseverance is an important quality.”

Argo Challenge skipper, Lars Grael stated:

“It is a pleasure to have someone as talented as Karol join the team. His match racing tactics are the best. He is a great starting helmsman, driver and tactician. I am delighted by his enthusiasm and have learned many impressive match racing moves by watching him over the years. He is a master and I can’t wait to work closely with him.”

Antonio Spinelli, Argo’s founder commented:

“Argo’s momentum and following continue to grow. Having Karol join our team is a vote of confidence from one of the world’s best match racers. Karol is a very popular sports figure in Poland and it will add to our international fan base that is already strong throughout South America, Europe and the US. Given the international composition of the team, our universal message and the power of social media, we will have support form all areas of the globe.”

In 2009 and 2010, key people in the sailing industry were listed alphabetically in the directory. As well as contact details like email address and mobile phone numbers, the Dark Blue Book contained short sailing CV and bio details for yacht racing’s decision makers.

In 2011, with the co-operation of leading rights holders, the Dark Blue Book will offer a ‘book within a book’ format that will allow multi-team or multi-venue events to consolidate the important contact information of competing teams, sponsors and partners and host ports together with series personnel.

While these chapters will exist in the 2011 Dark Blue Book, the option will also exist for the section to be printed separately as a resource for participants, media and VIP partners.

David Fuller, CEO of Pilote Media and Editor of the Dark Blue Book said:

We are getting better every year. The Dark Blue Book provides a really useful resource for people in the business of yacht racing but its even more useful for those who are learning the market. Organisations like the Volvo Ocean Race and World Match Racing Tour are hiring professionals from other sports and those executives are used to having directories like this at their disposal.

It doesn’t matter if you are an agency that is looking into sailing for a potential sponsor, a journalist who is researching the sport with a view to upcoming events or someone who has been in the business for a while who is looking to keep tabs on old contacts, this directory is designed to be useful.

Pilote Media will once again be attending the annual World Yacht Racing Forum in December. Rights owners or organisations who are interested in partnering with the Dark Blue Book for 2011 are invited to meet with the publishers in Estoril on the 13th, 14th and 15th of December.

2010 has been a strange year in the sport of sailing. The global yacht racing calendar, which features events that happen every two years and four years saw teams, sponsors and other key players in sailing between campaigns.

At the beginning of the year, the America’s Cup was down to just 2 teams, Alinghi and BMW ORACLE fighting it out once and for all in Valencia to determine who would get to keep the cup and determine its future. This left teams like Emirates Team New Zealand and TEAMORIGIN keeping their rock-start teams together by competing in the Audi Med Cup for TP52s.

The Volvo Ocean Race finished in St Petersberg in June 2009, and the Race headquarters moved to Alicante to begin the wind up for the next race. 2010 has been a year of positioning and consolidating with new host venues being announced for the next edition of the race including Abu Dhabi and France. New appointments to the management team have also been made in 2010.

The Open 60 fleet is also in a kind of lull between Vendee Globes. The Barcelona World Race will give new combinations of skippers and boats a chance to show what the form might be like next time around, but several sailors are without sponsorship.

2011 then promises to be pretty exciting for the sport of yacht racing. The America’s Cup has set its stall out and while some campaigns like TEAMORIGIN have fallen away, new teams are emerging to look at the next event in catamarans.

The Volvo Ocean Race, with ports lined up has at least six fully funded teams including Groupama, Abu Dhabi and Camper, backed by Team NZ.

The World Match Racing Tour has begun its reinvention with new appointments including CEO Jim O’Toole. The WMRT has also embarked on a host city drive to attract more rounds.

2011 will be the last chance that sailors have a chance to qualify for London 2012. It is also a year that new brands are looking to enter the market using the Olympics as a platform – The Clarks Sports sailing shoe will be promoted with the help of Iain Percy and Andrew Simpson.

All this means that the 2011 Dark Blue Book will be an even more important resource for teams, sponsors, suppliers, rights owners and the media. Who’s gone where? Who’s winning, who’s losing? Who’s new and who’s on the way out?

The 2011 directory will be open for submissions soon.

A summary of results will be published on Yachtsponsorhip.com and a detailed report will be included in the 2010 DARK BLUE BOOK.

David Fuller, CEO of Pilote Media and Editor of the DARK BLUE BOOK says:

Now that the America’s Cup has been sailed and won by BMW ORACLE, we want to know how people are feeling about the current state of yacht racing as a professional sport and how they feel about the future. It doesn’t matter if you are a sailor, rights owner, supplier or just a fan, we want to know some of the issues that are facing the industry.

You are invited to complete the survey at http://www.darkbluebook.com/survey/index.php?sid=84173&lang=en

You can share the survey link on Twitter etc using this link: http://bit.ly/dpzT6k

For the 2010 edition, we are announcing a new promotion. The submission forms for the second edition now include space to include a referral. This means that if you refer someone to the DARK BLUE BOOK and they list you as the person who got them to sign up, you could both be rewarded with a prize of free advertising. We are giving away four half page ads worth £600 each.

You can start here. Simply fill out the form to invite people that you think would benefit from being listed in the Who’s Who of sailing and Yacht Racing.

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In 2009, we published the first ever Who’s Who of the Yacht Racing world. The DARK BLUE BOOK is now well on the way to becoming the definitive directory for the industry. For the first time, we have released an online sample of the 2009 directory.

Thanks to feedback from consumers and partners, the 2010 edition will be more useful with over 300% more entries.

Now is the time to update your entry in the DARK BLUE BOOK for 2010. Listing is a must if you are in the business of yacht racing, whether you are an event organiser, competitor, journalist or photographer, press officer or supplier.

Listing in the DARK BLUE BOOK helps position you to thousands of potential business partners, sponsors, owners, crew and the media.

For 2010, there are 3 listing options:

• Individual Listing (FREE). Whether you are a super-star sailor, marketing director for a global company or sole-trader, this type of entry allows you free listing in the DARK BLUE BOOK. This is the heart of the directory, because we believe people do business with people. This listing allows an individual to display contact information, sailing CV and other useful information as well as a photograph. More…

• Organisational Listing (£75). For event organisers, yacht clubs, teams, companies or any other organisations that want to be listed as a group rather than individuals, this option allows key personnel to be listed as well as a logo. An organisational listing costs £75, and includes a complimentary soft-cover copy of the 2010 directory once published. More…

• Advertising. If you want to reach thousands of influentual people in the business of yacht racing and position yourself as one of the leading providers in this glamourous and desirable industry, advertising in the DARK BLUE BOOK provides a unique opportunity to deliver your message. Advertising in the DARK BLUE BOOK lasts for a whole year. Many customers refer to the directory over 50 times carrying it to events around the world as a reference. The publishers of the DARK BLUE BOOK also offer special editions and bespoke versions of the directory which make great corporate gifts for key partners and VIP guests. More…

There are only 54 days until we close the book for entries, so make sure you and your company are included.

At the time of the innaugural World Yacht Racing Forum last December, the DARK BLUE BOOK was just a concept. Twelve months on and the directory has been published to a warm reception from many in the industry. The 2010 edition will be bigger and better with over 100 new entries already submitted.

The DARK BLUE BOOK is today announcing a new promotion, giving people at all levels the opportunity to make the most of the 2nd Edition. The promotion works like this:

• Submit an individual listing (FREE) and go into the draw to win an organisational listing worth £75.
• Submit and organisational listing (£75) and go into the draw to win a 1/2 page ad worth £600.
• Buy a 1/2 page ad (£600) and go into the draw to win a full page ad worth £1000.
• Buy a full page ad (£1000) and go into the draw to win the back-cover ad position of the Dark Blue Book.

For advertising enquiries, please call David Fuller, Editor on +44 7900 975 413 or catch up with him at the World Yacht Racing Forum.

The promotion will run until Monday 14th of December.

Terms and Conditions

The first ever ‘Who’s Who’ of yacht racing contains contact details for some of the most influential people in the sport from team principals to sponsors, journalists and event organisers.

Now the operators of sailing websites and blogs have the opportunity to make money by reffering people to buy the directory. For every book sold as a result of a refferal, Pilote will pay a £10 commission.

Editor of the DARK BLUE BOOK and Pilote CEO David Fuller says:

We know that many people run sailing blogs and websites on a part time basis and don’t get a lot of reward for it. This is an oppoortunity to promote a relevant product and make some cash. Semi-pro sailors who run their own websites can also raise money this way – everybody wins.

Those who missed out on being included in the 2009 edition can also now submit their entries for the next book. Online entry forms are now live on the DARK BLUE BOOK website.

• Buy the 2009 edition: http://www.darkbluebook.com/buy-the-book
• Sign up for the affiliate scheme : http://www.darkbluebook.com/about/dark-blue-book-affiliate-scheme/
• Submit 2010 entry : http://www.darkbluebook.com/2010-entry-form/