2016 Venture Cup - Now Cancelled!!

[Serious News]

Official Hotels now ready for you.

Dalata Group - the official hotel partner of the Venture Cup - have now allocated hotels and rates for teams to avail of. If you wish to avail of these exclusive deals you'll need to act quickly. Discuss them with your team over the weekend and get in touch with the number shown below on Monday or Tuesday. The packages are only in place until close of business on Tuesday 19th. After that date, Dalata will continue to support you in any way they can, but this particular deal runs only to Tuesday. The Irish hotel industry is going through a challenging time at the moment. While most of the country's hotels are relatively new and of excellent standards, there hasn't been that many new hotels built in the past 5 years. This means that the demands on the existing stock are incredible, and good prices can be hard to find. There's no obligation on any team to use any or all of the 'official' partner hotels, and we're passing on 100% of the package directly to you. All of the hotels below are of high 4-star standard and have been built in the last 10 years.

Cork: Clarion Hotel - http://www.clarionhotelcorkcity.com/
Fri 10th €170
Sat 11th €170
Sun 12th €120
Galway: Clayton Hotel - http://www.claytonhotelgalway.ie/
Tues 14th €95
Wed 15th €95
Belfast: Clayton Hotel - http://www.claytonhotelbelfast.com/
Fri 17th £115
Dublin: Clayton Hotel, Leopardstown - http://www.claytonhotelleopardstown.com/
Sat 18th €129
Sun 19th €129

All of the above include breakfast

All of the above can be booked from one central number: +353 578 695 946
Quote 'Venture Cup' when making booking, and they're open as follows:
Sat 16th: 0900 to 1730
Sun 17th: 1000 to 1500
Mon 18th: 0900 to 2000
Tues 19th: 0900 to 2000

You'll have noticed that the above doesn't include Dingle on Monday 13th June and Killybegs on Thursday 16th June, and that's because Dalata don't have hotels in these locations. We continue to work on solutions for these two venues, but the following will be of immediate assistance:
Dingle: http://www.dingle-peninsula.ie/visitor-enquiries.html
Killybegs: http://www.killybegs.ie/contact/

Failing that, hotel rooms are currently available in Tralee (35 mins from Dingle):
The Rose Hotel, €49 per night

An alternate to Killybegs is Donegal Town (20 mins away) which has the following available:
Abbey & Central Hotels, each for €65 per night
Mill Park Hotel, €65 per night
Harveys Point Hotel, €99 per night

Where a number of teams are staying in locations outside of walking distance from moorings we will attempt to organise courtesy transport.

 

[Serious News]

 

[Serious News]

Cougar Powerboats to enter 2016 Venture Cup



The Cougar Powerboats US1 46 is a late entry that will be piloted by Richard Carr and Steve Curtis in the 2016 Venture Cup round-Ireland race

The latest team to announce its participation in the 2016 Venture Cup is Cougar Powerboats, and the Solent-based firm has an all-star team set to pilot the US1 46.

Former world champions Steve Curtis and Richard Carr will make up the team on board this late entry into the round-Ireland race.

Cougar Powerboats admits that the boat’s participation relies on the prompt delivery of two key components – the twin Mercury Racing 1350 engines and Mercury M8 stern drives.

However, with everything going according to plan, this formidable machine should line up alongside other strong contenders such as the Vector V40R, as driven by Peter Dredge.

The 2016 Venture Cup will take the form of a round-Ireland race, starting in Cork on June 12 and finishing up in Dublin 7 days later, after an epic 1,000nm dash around the Emerald isle.

Looking further ahead and there is an indication that this Cougar Powerboats team may also be entering this years Cowes Torquay Cowes Classic, with the company posting a link to the September event underneath its Venture Cup announcement. Fingers crossed…

Read more at http: //www.mby.com/news/cougar-powerboats-2016-venture-cup-52390#BjMAeRWUbOtwMxc8.99

 

[Serious News]

Venture Cup is Cancelled


It is with enormous regret that we must advise you that the 2016 Venture Cup has been cancelled.

Delivering an event of this scale was always going to present challenges, but we felt we had the team and support to make it happen. However, we began suffering acute cash-flow problems at the end of March. Regardless of the funding commitment to the overall event, without positive cash-flow we were being strangled. Right across the month and into May we actively sought to source solutions. Only a week ago we had a potential answer on the table which not only resolved the issue but secured the event into the future. Unfortunately this, and other avenues, have failed to materialise and we have reached a point where we can no longer proceed in good faith.

We would like to both thank, and apologise to, the teams, stakeholders, authorities, communities and individuals who’ve put so much faith into this plan over the past year. We can assure you that we left no stone unturned in our attempts to resolve this issue, but we must now act prudently and that means cancelling the event when we are unable to guarantee that we can continue to operate.

For those teams who have paid their entry-fees, these are currently in the process of being returned.

Thank you for your support.

Sincerely
The Venture Cup Team.

 

[Ratickle]

That sucks.

 

[Serious News]

Plug pulled on epic powerboat race
By Eoin English, Irish Examiner Reporter

The plug has been pulled on an epic round-Ireland powerboat race which was due to start in Cork Harbour in just over three weeks.

Organisers of the Venture Cup event, launched in a blaze of publicity in Cobh last month and billed as one of most spectacular free sporting events this summer, blamed cashflow problems and the collapse of a last-ditch sponsorship deal for the late cancellation.

The race, which was to feature multimillion-euro powerboats and teams including TV survivalist Bear Grylls and male supermodel David Gandy, was also due to be broadcast to 70 countries, providing a major showcase for the Wild Atlantic Way.

But organisers confirmed yesterday that the 700-mile race involving 25 teams from around the world will not go ahead.

“Delivering an event of this scale was always going to present challenges, but we felt we had the team and support to make it happen,” the Venture Cup team said in a statement.

“However, we began suffering acute cashflow problems at the end of March. Regardless of the funding commitment to the overall event, without positive cashflow we were being strangled.

“Right across the month and into May we actively sought to source solutions.

“Only a week ago we had a potential answer on the table which not only resolved the issue but secured the event into the future.

“Unfortunately this, and other avenues, have failed to materialise and we have reached a point where we can no longer proceed in good faith.

“We would like to both thank, and apologise to, the teams, stakeholders, authorities, communities, and individuals who’ve put so much faith into this plan over the past year.

“We can assure you that we left no stone unturned in our attempts to resolve this issue, but we must now act prudently and that means cancelling the event when we are unable to guarantee that we can continue to operate.”

Race teams who had paid entry fees will be refunded.

The race was supposed to start with in-harbour racing on a course in Cork Harbour on June 12 before embarking on a race along the south and west coast, with stop overs and shore-based festivals planned in Dingle, Galway, Killybegs, Belfast, and Dublin.

Cork County Council was working with the race organisers to showcase Cork Harbour and the county’s spectacular coastline.

The Haven charity had also been lined up as the charity partner.

http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/plug-pulled-on-epic-powerboat-race-400097.html

 

[Serious News]

Disappointment in Killybegs as major boat racing event cancelled at short notice

Killybegs is set to suffer a significant loss in tourism income next month following the shock cancellation of a major powerboat racing event.

The Venture Offshore Cup which was due to take place in June was called off this week due to one of the funders pulling out, with in-depth planning and preparations by the Killybegs community now going to waste.

The event was estimated to attract thousands of tourists to the town.

Councillor Niamh Kennedy says at such short notice it’s unlikely that a similar event can be arranged in its place:

http://www.highlandradio.com/2016/0...-boat-racing-event-cancelled-at-short-notice/

 

[Ratickle]

When I chatted with the guys from the Venture Cup at the Miami Boat Show they were positive the race would go on. They said they were already fully funded when I asked about the previous cancellation and those people who did not get their entry fees refunded.

I'll have to dig into this some more. Hopefully those who had already entered will get refunds of entry fees at least.