Souvenir Sales May Power Yachting Effort to Win Back America’s Cup

So you have your Olympic pins and your World Series cap and your Super Bowl coffee mug. Hungry for more?

One of the contenders for the next America’s Cup, international yachting’s foremost event, is already getting into the souvenir game even though the next series of races doesn’t start until Jan. 31, 1987.

America’s Cup memorabilia is nothing new. During the 1983 race in the waters off Newport, R.I.--the one when an Australian crew wrestled the cup away from the Americans for the first time in 132 years--mementos abounded.

But the syndicate backing contender Dennis Conner--skipper of the ill-fated American yacht in 1983--has hit on the idea of financing the expensive quest to bring the trophy back by selling a wide variety goods bearing a stylized yacht covered with stars and stripes.

The items also will be emblazoned with “America’s Cup Challenge ‘87,” the title of the effort to raise $12 million by Conner’s syndicate, called Sail America Foundation for International Understanding. The promotion is being conducted under the auspices of the San Diego Yacht Club, where Conner is based.

Several syndicates will vie to represent the United States in the multinational series, which will be held in the Indian Ocean off Freemantle, Australia.

The U.S. syndicates generally raise the money needed to compete in the race by selling sponsorships, said Pamela McSweeney, director of marketing for San Diego-based International Licensing Corp., which is handling the licensing for Sail America. International Licensing believes that it is the first to raise part of the necessary funds by selling souvenirs at the retail level, she said.

“We’re really excited about the licensing program because it’s one of the few ways that the average guy on the street can get involved,” McSweeney said. “They obviously can’t go out and build a yacht or sail with Dennis.

“Licensing is big business, as the Olympics proved, but it has turned into a very patriotic cause,” she said. “People are seeing this as the Americans versus the Australians.” The royalties from the sale of the licensed goods are expected to provide a significant chunk of the money needed to finance Conner’s effort. The funds are used for such things as yacht design and construction, administrative costs, research and anti-espionage measures, McSweeney said. “It’s like a James Bond movie,” she said.

International Licensing has lined up about 25 licensees and anticipates a total of 40 or 50 by the end of 1986, McSweeney said.

The items will include: flags and banners, champagne, sweaters, plants, radio remote-control scale-model boats, tote bags, collectible bronze pieces and long underwear. Some of the goods will be available through mail order and in a variety of retail stores beginning in the next few months.