Saturday, 23rd December 2006 at 9:04 pm

Up close and personal

As corporate hospitality goes, this might just be as good as it’s ever got in sport. 2007 might be the year of two World Cups, but it’s also the year of the America’s Cup come March and April - and if you’ve got upwards of six thousand euros to spend, you all but get a spot on Team Shosholoza, South Africa’s blue collar upstarts in the aristocratic world of big money yachting…

Club Shosholoza was launched in Cape Town just before Christmas, giving yachting fans a hell of an opportunity. America’s Cup racing is notoriously cloak and dagger, with boats closely guarded, tactics whispered in dark corners, and access to team bases as wandering off the street and into the Oval Office. Until now… Club Shosholoza will give diehard fans the ultimate America’s Cup experience: free and unlimited access to the Shosholoza base (conveniently situated right alongside BMW Oracle in Valencia), complete team kit, daily updates with the team, and (admittedly for an extra ten thousand euros) the chance to race as 18th man when Shosholoza goes into battle.

It’s something akin to spending a month on tour with the Boks, and getting to join in the half-time team talks, or hanging out with the cricketers and getting to bowl in the nets on the morning of the first Test. The aim is to raise money for Shosholoza’s assault on the America’s Cup; in the process, it opens up the best viewing platform yachting’s ultimate event has ever seen. Pricey? Certainly. But an incredible opportunity if you can afford it - check out www.globalsport.com/shosholoza if it takes your fancy, and you’ve still got a heap of euros left over post-Christmas.