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.

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.

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/

BUY NOW

Our team and design guys are big fans of Virtual Skipper. If you are not lucky enough to live in Sydney where you can be twilight racing on the harbour after work or some other blessed location, you can still race boats – online against others.

We’ve decided that to celebrate the upcoming launch of the DARK BLUE BOOK – the Who’s Who of Yacht Racing, we will offer some virtual sponsorships. Just like real sponsorships, you don’t get money for nothing – so we are running a competition.

Here’s how to join the TEAM DARK BLUE BOOK and win cash and prizes, including copies of the DARK BLUE BOOK worth £49.99:

1. Download our special ACC skin for VSK5… (Get the .ZIP file here – 8MB)
2. Copy to C:\Program Files\32nd America’s Cup\GameData\Skins\Boats\Acc
3. Choose the Skin as your default colors when racing.
4. Race online (Against other people)
5. Send us evidence of you racing in our colors. and we’ll choose the best.

All Entries received before June 15th will go into the draw to win.

• First Prize – £100 plus a copy of the DARK BLUE BOOK.
• Runner Up – £50 plus a copy of the DARK BLUE BOOK
• 3rd Prize – A Copy of the DARK BLUE BOOK

RULES and FINE PRINT
Entrants must 16 years and over.

Proof from 'Individuals' section.

Who’s who in the world of Yacht Racing? Who are the competitors, the owners, the deal-makers? Who are the editors, the influencers, the sponsors? Who’s in and Who’s out?

If you are in sports marketing, sponsorship, media, marketing or business to business sales in any industry, then this is the only place to get to know this marketplace.

Learn More. . .

David Fuller, Editor of the directory says:

“If you have sent in your forms, then our researchers and designers are currently adding you into the book, but if you haven’t, then you have two ways of making the first edition. You can advertise, or you can pay a small fee to cover the extra work we have to do to get you included.”

The directory has recieved fantastic support from the yacht racing community, with high profile people spreading the word to friends, business partners and even fellow competitors.

“Those who have embraced the concept will get the best results from the book,” says David. “It makes sense if you are a competitive team to list your key people, your press partners, the company that built your website, the guys you get your kit from.”

The project was concieved in late 2008, based on similar directories that exist for other professional sports.

“It’s the first edition, so we are going to miss some people out. We’ve tried to contact as many people as possible and we are grateful to those who have spread the word to include individuals that we hadn’t considered. We still want people to be included, but we have to close the door and go to print at a point. That’s why we are offering this one last chance.”

The DARK BLUE BOOK will give be a great resource for all aspects of professional yacht racing including competing teams in America’s Cup, World Match Racing Tour, Audi Med Cup, iShares Cup and big offshore races. It features sponsors, journalists, photographers, designers and other suppliers.

For your last chance to be included amongst the Who’s Who of Yacht Racing, see http://www.darkbluebook.com/submission-form/