Kiny Parade: Changing the Mould
Kiny Parade, Race Manager for the VELUX 5 OCEANS, is in charge of skipper liaison for the 2010-11 race. The experienced Whitbread Veteran discusses the importance of the benefits packages for skippers, developed after careful consultation with past and future participants of the classic singlehanded race around the world, and provides some initial feedback on the Eco 60 Class.
Understanding the New World Order...
Everybody knows we are currently living through a period of unprecedented economic turbulence, which is affecting all areas of our lives, and which is certainly having an impact on the sport of ocean racing. Nobody knows how long or how severe these economic challenges will be and this uncertainty has an influence on the skippers of the VELUX 5 OCEANS 2010-11. We are therefore very proud of the skipper support packages that Clipper Ventures and VELUX have developed which will total €1.8 million. This includes a €500,000 Prize Fund and a direct investment toward accommodation, logistics and communications for the first 12 teams to enter, as well as various services in ports around the world. We are equally proud of our Eco 60 Class, designed to offer economical and ecological Open 60 ocean racing, broadening the breadth and depth of the sport during these difficult times.
Having travelled the world with the skippers as Race Secretary in the last VELUX 5 OCEANS in 2007, I had a very positive experience of this unique event and wanted to continue working on the project to help take the race to a new dimension. I was pleased to accept the offer to continue to work with David Adams, our Race Director, in order to liaise with skippers around the world and work with them to help them get to the start line, never an easy task!
We are privileged to have such a committed partner again in VELUX and we work together constantly to build an event that will be a success in all aspects. The vision of VELUX and Clipper Ventures is to attract skippers from all over the world to be on our start line and ensure that the race delivers a return on investment for them and their partners. We therefore began a process of reaching out to sailors, past, present and future, to listen to their opinions and understand the key elements that can make our race an attractive proposition from a commercial and practical point of view.
Over the past 18 months, we have spoken directly and regularly to over 100 sailors from more than 20 nations, many of whom have the ambition and desire to compete in the VELUX 5 OCEANS. They come from various backgrounds and are all in different stages of readiness. Following this period of consultation, we identified a number of ways in which we as a race organisation can help them achieve their dream.
Clipper Ventures and VELUX therefore committed to deliver a minimum of €1.8 million of value back to skippers to assist with their budgets and reduce costs. This will be supported by a guaranteed budget of €2.6 million for media and marketing activities. We also reverted back to a more traditional structure of five Ocean Sprints and launched our Eco 60 Class to keep the race accessible and contemporary.
It is a new approach, but we believe we are offering a uniquely attractive proposition for skippers and their sponsors.
€500,000 Prize Fund for skippers
The 2010-11 VELUX 5 OCEANS will see a €500,000 skipper prize fund on offer, one of the biggest on the Open 60 circuit. The division of the prize money will be decided in 2010 after consultation with skippers entered in the race, but will be designed to encourage healthy and continuous competition throughout the five Ocean Sprints around the world. We will also reward communications and media activities, as well as try to encourage close racing for all the starts.
Team Benefits: Accommodation, Logistics and Communications
A further half a million euros will be invested directly into team campaigns. The first 12 teams to enter the race will receive a minimum of €36,000 per team across key services. This will be broken down into €3,500 per stopover to defray accommodation costs at host ports (a total of €21,000 per team for the race), €10,000 contribution towards communications during the race plus €5,000 offered towards logistics costs around the world.
Further investment is available further down the line and Clipper Ventures has committed to deliver an additional €600,000 in value across all services in port and at sea, including special packages from official suppliers, race partners and other core activities.
We are very conscious that the format of our event, spanning eight months, visiting five continents and encompassing five gruelling ocean sprints is not cheap, especially during such challenging economic times. But we do know that our event offers un-paralleled media exposure and a unique hospitality platform on the Open 60 racing calendar.
Eco 60: Positive Feedback All Round
We have received hugely positive feedback on the Eco 60 Class. Many sailors from all over the world have been attracted by the concept of sailing an Open 60 around the globe with limitations on budgets. With such a significant market of third and fourth generation boats on sale, we are seeing real signs of an active market and a strong fleet of diverse characters from a whole host of nations. With entry forms going out to many skippers, we expect to make a number of skipper announcements in the coming months.
Please contact Kiny and the race management team for more information about the race, including Eco 60 boats for sale, media plans and the skipper support benefits and financial investments www.velux5oceans.com
http://www.seahorsemagazine.com/2009-July/velux.php