Velux 5 Oceans organization to deliver €1.8 million of value to skippers

[Source: Velux 5 Oceans] Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, Chairman of Clipper Ventures PLC, organisers of the VELUX 5 OCEANS, today confirmed an unprecedented investment in skippers who enter the 2010-11 edition of the classic solo round the world ocean race. The support will be offered as a minimum to the first 12 teams who officially enter the event:

- €3,500 per stopover to defray accommodation costs at host ports (total of €21,000)
- €10,000 contribution towards communications during the race
- €5,000 offered towards logistics costs around the world

This represents an investment of €36,000 per skipper, which will be further supported by a total prizefund of €500,000 as well as supplementary value in kind across all services up to a total investment of €1.8 million for skippers in the next VELUX 5 OCEANS.

Sir Robin Knox-Johnston commented, "In December, we announced that VELUX and Clipper Ventures would look to actively deliver €1.8 million of value to skippers who take part in the VELUX 5 OCEANS 2010-11. Having committed €500,000 to a prizemoney pot to be split across the legs and fleets, we promised to offer support across the key budget areas of accommodation, communications and logistics. We are now pleased to confirm the first stage of that breakdown, with a direct investment of €36,000 per team during the race. We will continue to deliver further value for skippers to reach our target."

"As title sponsor, we are happy that the Race Management has undertaken dialogues with skippers to identify the best way to allocate the budget we have made available to support skippers campaigns. We hope that today's announcement will meet a clearly expressed need from skippers for support and it's our hope that this investment will encourage some of the most inspirational skippers in the world to participate in the race." Stated Kent Holm, VELUX Market Communications Manager

Sir Robin concluded, "We are very conscious that the format of our event, spanning eight months, visiting five continents and encompassing five gruelling ocean sprints can introduce supplementary costs, especially during such challenging economic times. Although we know that our event offers un-paralleled media exposure and a unique hospitality platform on the Open 60 racing calendar, VELUX and Clipper Ventures realised that we need to go further in our support of our competitors in order to make the race an attractive proposition for sponsors and skippers alike. Whilst our media budget of €2.6 million is designed to deliver a significant return on investment, we hope that our direct investment in accommodation, logistics and communications will take the race to new heights and change the mould of ocean racing."

DETAILS OF THE SKIPPER SUPPORT PACKAGE:

Clipper Ventures and VELUX will jointly deliver value to participating skippers in the VELUX 5 OCEANS 2010-11, which will start on October 17 2010 from La Rochelle (France) and will include five gruelling ocean sprints that visit Cape Town (South Africa), Wellington (New Zealand), Salvador (Brazil) and Charleston (USA).

The total investment by VELUX and Clipper Ventures PLC to support skippers in the VELUX 5 OCEANS 2010-11 is €1.8 million of value for competitors in prize money and key services such as accommodation, logistics and communications.

The first stage of that breakdown is a direct investment of €36,000 per team during the race and €500,000 to prize money.

This investment and value creation will be structured in the following way:
- €500,000 Prize money
- €250,000 Accommodation Support
- €120,000 Communications Support
- €60,000 Logistics Support

Additional value will be delivered via further investments and special deals secured for competitors. VELUX and Clipper Ventures are also supporting skippers in 2009 as they search for sponsorship and financing to achieve their life's ambition of taking on The Ultimate Solo Challenge.

€500,000 Skipper Prizefund
The total prizefund will be split across the 2 fleets and will reward performance over each Ocean Sprint, recognising finishing positions, media work and environmental performance.

The breakdown will be determined closer to race start once the fleet size is known, although the majority of prizemoney will be committed to the Open 60 Class.

€250,000 Accommodation Support
The first 12 teams to officially enter the VELUX 5 OCEANS will receive a cheque for €3,500 at each stopover around the world to defray accommodation costs. The race management team and partners in each port will deliver further value to skippers by special accommodation packages, negotiated on behalf of skippers.

€120,000 Communications Support
The first 12 teams to officially enter the VELUX 5 OCEANS will each receive a €10,000 investment towards communications. This will be offered across hardware, software or airtime services depending on the needs of each team. Partnerships with leading providers across all communications areas will be built to offer additional value to skippers.

€60,000 Logistics Support
The first 12 teams to officially enter the VELUX 5 OCEANS will each receive a €5,000 investment towards logistics costs. The Race Management will be partnering with a supplier to ship materials around the world and will offer special packages for sharing costs and services.