Volvo Ocean Race - Auction to join Team Alvimedica now open

by Team Alvimedica on 31 Oct 2014 Bidding is now open in the auction to join the Volvo Ocean Race as a part of Team Alvimedica and support heart charities around the world! Team Alvimedica supporters have the unique chance to bid on two experiences that will take place at each stopover throughout the race.

• Jump Seat - Join our sailors onboard Alvimedica as they wave good bye to cheering fans and start the leg of the race. After completing the inshore portion of the leg you will jump overboard before the fleet head out to sea. Don’t worry though, we won’t leave you treading water for long, our team chase boat will quickly pull you from the sea and return you safely to land.

• Pro-Am Race - Join Team Alvimedica as participating crew members for a Pro-Am race against the rest of the fleet with a group of up to seven of your friends or colleagues. Hoist a sail, grind the sheet, drive the boat, and join all crews in a prize-giving ceremony, where you will hopefully be on the podium receiving a medal!

Go to the auction site to learn more about the auction packages and bid on the Cape Town and Abu Dhabi stopovers: Team Alvimedica Auction.

The Pro-Am race in Cape Town will take place Friday, November 14, while the winner of the Jump Seat will join the team on Wednesday, November 19 for the Leg 2 start. The bidders’ funds will benefit the Paediatric Cardiac Society of South Africa, the local NGO committed to improving quality of care for children with congenital and acquired heart diseases.

About Alvimedica’s Heart Health Charity Initiative: 'As part of our commitment to pioneering care in the field of cardiology, we will support local cardiac health charities by auctioning the Team Alvimedica Jump Seat experience at each leg departure around the world,' said Dr. Cem Bozkurt, CEO of Alvimedica, the global medical devices company that is the Team’s owner. 'All of the proceeds from the auction will benefit a locally designated heart charity. It is our hope that this initiative will be one small step toward supporting care for heart health in each of the stopover communities of the Volvo Ocean Race worldwide.'

The Jump Seat experience involves departing the dock with the race crew and being on board for the initial racing before the fleet leaves the stopover port. In Cape Town, the fleet sets out on a 6,125 nautical-mile leg to Abu Dhabi in the Middle East. The fleet will sail in Table Bay before heading offshore. Each of the seven Volvo Ocean Race teams has a Jump Seat. The Jump Seat riders experience the exhilarating moments of the start before jumping overboard at a safe moment in the race. The 'Jumpers' are then retrieved by a tender boat and brought safely back to shore.

'While often this experience is reserved for sponsors or VIPs, we decided it would be a win-win to open this up to all sailing fans for a cause close to our hearts - cardiac health,' Dr. Bozkurt said.

Alvimedica launched the initiative at the start of the race in Alicante, Spain on October 11 when Dr. Bozkurt jumped in the name of heart health. Alvimedica donated 10,000 Euro to Spain’s Menudos Corazones Foundation, the national children’s heart charity, to kick-start the program. Now this unique experience of the 'Jump Seat' is available to the highest bidder, with all of the bid proceeds going to heart charities at each stopover of the Volvo Ocean Race.

Sailing fans also have the chance to bid on bringing their own team of five to seven to join the Team Alvimedica race crew on one of the Pro-Am Races in the stopover. These in-port races precede the leg start and offer sailing fans the rare opportunity to actually be involved in crew maneuvers with the professional race team as they compete against the Volvo Ocean Race fleet.

For the details of this exciting auction opportunity please visit the Team Alvimedica Auction page.