Pantaenius to sponsor Port Stephens Trophy and Commodores Cup

by Lisa Ratcliff/Sail Port Stephens media on 6 Mar 2014 The Australian boss of the newest player in the boating insurance market, Pantaenius, is a well-known yachtsman who sized up Sail Port Stephens and decided it ticked a lot of boxes.

Pantaenius has signed on as title sponsor of two components of Sail Port Stephens; the three-day Port Stephens Trophy April 11–13 for Performance Racing and Performing Cruising divisions and the PHS scored Commodores Cup April 14-16 for cruising divisions.

Managing director of Pantaenius Australia Jamie MacPhail and claims manager Adam Brown are familiar names and faces when it comes to eastern seaboard sailing circles. Over the decades both have campaigned a swag of high profile boats and racked up off thousands of offshore miles.

MacPhail and the European family who own Pantaenius were introduced three years ago via a sailing relationship and started discussions on opening up an Australian arm of the business.

Once the wheels started turning MacPhail worked on Brown and the pair teamed up off the water in early 2012 when the business became active.

'Adam has had a long term involvement in the industry and is well-known in the commercial and retail side of power boat and yachting business,' MacPhail said.

'He also has a personal relationship with a great number of owners and crew through his own sailing experience over two decades.'

After a settling in period the business is making great gains and MacPhail is excited about the potential for growth, and the potential of Sail Port Stephens.

'The great bulk of people who enter Sail Port Stephens are cruiser racer and club style sailors,' he said.

'That’s our core market in the yachting industry plus supporting these sorts of events is an obvious avenue to give something back to the client base that is already supporting us.

'We personally like the regatta. I’ve competed in it a couple of times and in the early days helped garner owners’ support when it was a fledging event.

'We like the venue, the accommodation options are excellent and its family oriented. The options for courses if the weather turns bad means the race management team can run quite reasonable windward/leeward races inshore rather than losing an entire day, or more, of racing from the program.

'Sail Port Stephens has enormous potential to grow and become a bigger regatta for the Sydney racing scene because it’s so close, making it easy to drive and deliver boats to.'

Pantaenius is the largest private pleasure boat insurer in Europe. Since 1997 Pantaenius has specialised in yacht insurance and has expanded to service clients in more than 50 countries.

MacPhail says from a relationship and awareness point of view it makes good sense to be involved in a regatta such as Sail Port Stephens.

'We want the industry to know while we are young we are happy to involved and give back.

'We also want to showcase some of the points of difference Pantaenius offers including a significantly more comprehensive all-risk policy and agreed fixed value rather than market value, a first for the industry specifically tailored to the pleasure boat market and offered since 1963.'

Pantaenius Australia staff including MacPhail will be ashore during the Port Stephens series to assist with logistics and offer insurance advice and support.

For the Audi IRC Australian Championship at Newcastle immediately following the Pantaenius Port Stephens Trophy and Commodores Cup MacPhail and Brown are off duty.

They will transition from work colleagues back to sailors when MacPhail takes up the position of helmsman of Bob Steel’s champion TP52 Quest and ‘Brownie’ steps aboard as crew boss.

Sail Port Stephens is proudly supported by the NSW Government, through its tourism and major events agency, Destination Enter Sail Port Stephens online by 1700hrs, Tuesday April 1, Pantaenius Australia