At the capitalistic core, there is no philosophical difference between a software company using a sailing race to boost awareness of one of its brands and a film studio using a race to promote one of its products. But on the surface, it certainly seems different. Software, despite ever-more nautical uses, is not inherently about star power and adventure on the high seas.
"I'm not bad mouthing typical commercial sponsorships, because we've all raced with those for years, and they're great," Cayard said. "But this thing with Pirates, it's more of a vision or dream, so that was very intriguing to me, and at the end of the day, that was what put me over the edge. And despite being extremely late and despite being way under the gun, I was ready to jump in."
Well aware that the vision thing ran the risk of veering into undignified territory, Cayard and his sailing team worked with Disney to find the appropriate linkage between the pirate ship and the race boat. (Any company that would name an NHL team the Mighty Ducks bears close watching.)
"We didn't want to have cannons coming out of the side of the boat and teak decks," said the Black Pearl's shore manager, Kimo Worthington.
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