Skandia secures Moloney's Vendée funding

by Helen King, Offshore Challenges on 18 May 2004 Skandia, the international long-term savings company, today (GMT) unveiled the yacht that international yachtsman, Nick Moloney, will race in this winter's Vendée Globe.

Three leading international fund management companies, Invesco Perpetual, Gartmore Investment Managers and Merrill Lynch Investment Managers, have signed up with Skandia to create the Skandia MultiManager campaign which will fund Moloney's decade-long goal to complete a historical hat-trick in round the world sailing.

Invesco Perpetual, Gartmore and Merrill Lynch Investment Managers are partners in Skandia's pioneering MultiManager investment programme that is celebrating its 20-year anniversary this year.
All four companies are now partners in the first entry ever by an Australian into the Vendée Globe; a three-month solo non-stop circumnavigation starting from Les Sables d'Olonne in France on November 7th 2004.

Moloney's Open 60 was christened 'Skandia' today and carries the colours of Skandia as well as those of Invesco Perpetual, Gartmore and Merrill Lynch Investment Managers, who will also benefit from corporate hospitality and marketing opportunities through their distribution partnership with Skandia.

This combined investment has allowed Moloney to acquire the four-year old boat once campaigned by Briton Ellen MacArthur to second place in the last edition of the Vendée Globe in 94 days and four hours; still the third fastest solo time around the world.

A thorough three-month refit means Moloney, 36, feels he has a boat capable of claiming a top five position against an expected fleet of 20 Open 60’s, including five new designs.
In the Vendée, nothing is sure. Just to finish the race itself is an enormous achievement, but to have a boat capable of a good result is a great boost for Moloney.

‘I'm the proudest skipper in the world at the moment. It's hard to describe how honoured and indebted I feel to Skandia, Invesco Perpetual, Gartmore and Merrill Lynch Investment Managers for this opportunity, and how nervous I am to justify the huge trust they've put into this project and me.

The Vendée is the Everest of sailing, and for me it will certainly be the biggest challenge of my sailing career,’ he said.

Moloney's professional sailing career includes the Whitbread, (now Volvo Race), and the America's Cup.

Skandia's association with the Offshore Challenges Sailing Team - the company that manages Moloney's Vendée programme, began last year with their three-year sponsorship of Nick's team-mate Sam (Samantha) Davies, who competes full-time on the solo Figaro circuit.

Skandia then co-sponsored Moloney and Davies to compete in the two-handed Transat Jacques Vabre race from France to Brazil last November on the Open 60, then named Team Cowes.

‘We have been hugely impressed with the commitment and professionalism of both Nick and Sam,’ said Andre Oszmann, Skandia's Group Marketing Director. ‘Not only in their pursuit of achieving their sailing goals, but also in their dedication to helping others enjoy the sport.

‘Skandia has long been a supporter of international sailing at all levels and a key aim of our Skandia Set Sail sponsorship programme is to give aspiring sailors the chance to realise their dreams. Nick has proven his determination over and over again and we at Skandia were equally determined to ensure he competes in the 2004 -'05 Vendée Globe.’

Skandia had already provided sufficient funds for Moloney to secure the Open 60 for the year, to prepare her for racing and to compete in The Transat starting on May 31.

‘We are delighted that the Skandia MultiManager campaign is now in place, and with our three partners, we can confirm Nick's participation in the Vendée Globe,’ added Oszmann. ‘We wish him a fast and safe journey.’

Moloney's first test on 'Skandia' will be the 2,800-nautical mile Transat, starting on May 31. Leaving from Plymouth, England, Moloney will race solo across the harsh north Atlantic arriving in Boston, USA, two weeks later.

As the prevailing winds blow from America towards Europe, this race sends competitors into westbound gales and currents and through dense fog and icebergs off the Newfoundland coast.

Virtually all of the yachts Moloney will race against in the Vendée are using The Transat as a qualifier or final test of form. ‘Competing in The Transat will be a real feather in the cap for us,’ says Moloney.

‘It's an extremely tough race, both physically and mentally but it will give me a lot of confidence in Skandia in her new form. I can start the Vendée knowing no stone will be left unturned.’

Should Moloney complete the Vendée Globe, it will be a monumental and record-breaking triple in round-the-world sailing and the final of three ambitious goals he set himself at the age of twenty-five.

The first was to compete in a fully crewed round the world race with stops. This he did when he was selected to race on Dennis Conner's (of America's Cup fame) entry Toshiba in the 1997-98 Whitbread Race.

The second of his massive goals was completed when, two years ago in 2002, he won the Jules Verne Trophy for the quickest non-stop lap of the planet. Moloney was the only English-speaking crewman on the giant French 110-foot catamaran Orange when she set a blistering time of 64 days. That record stood until April this year.

His third, and most challenging goal, is a non-stop solo lap of the planet. By finishing the Vendée, he will be the first person to circumnavigate the world in these three different events. ‘The Vendée is the final pinnacle for me and I am prepared to give it everything,’ he added.

Moloney has also competed in two America's Cup campaigns in 1992 and 1995. His CV boasts nine sailing world speed records and one Guinness World Record for becoming the first (and still the only) person to windsurf across the Bass Strait from mainland Australia to the Island of Tasmania.

Moloney was awarded the Australian Sports Medal in 2000 for services rendered to the sport of sailing.