Vendee Globe - Conrad Coleman lands late major natural energy sponsor

by Sail-World.com on 5 Nov 2016 Conrad Colman (NZL/USA) has secured a last minute sponsorship deal that will enable Conrad to share his incredible story with the outside world.

With sailing as a sport making attempts to become a sustainable sport, one of the key objectives of Conrad Colman's solo round the world race campaign is to become the first competitor in the Vendee Globe race to compete, without using or even carrying any fossil fuel on board.

After one of many last minute calls made during the final pre-start week the 100% Natural Energy project appealed to the London-based Foresight Group. The independent infrastructure and private equity investment managers, the renewable energy market plays a significant role in their investment strategy. Foresight started investing in the solar sector in 2008 and is now the second largest solar asset manager in Europe.

The company proved able to respond quickly, making their positive decision only on Wednesday. Their branding for the boat was made up in England by Thursday and driven overnight to Les Sables d’Olonne yesterday.

Less than 24 hours before the start, it's a relief for Conrad “It speaks testament to the value of the project we have created and also the power of the Vendée Globe, a spectacle that will reach millions of people around the world and I am delighted that Foresight, a company that comes from outside the world of sailing, can see value for them.

Foresight invests in green energy companies and so it is particularly satisfying that I am being supported by a company which shares the same values as me at the heart of their business. They have significant investments in solar and recycling and renewable energies.

'Now we have the means to communicate, to participate fully in this race and to share the adventure with the world. We have a great company behind us that have invested in our story,” says Colman.

Speaking on board Foresight Natural Energy Ben Thompson, Group Marketing Director of the Foresight Group, explained: “Conrad’s story interested us immediately. It came out of the blue, a genuine story of a skipper needing funding to complete the course with full communications in order to tell the story.

We are a global company, increasingly global, with a focus on renewable energy and infrastructure. The alignment with Conrad’s attempt to go around the globe without a diesel engine, relying on solar and hydro power, with an energy storage system which is a part of energy infrastructure that we are pursuing, all ticked so many boxes.

We made our decision late on Wednesday, commission the boat branding Thursday, drive through the night to apply it yesterday and today. We as a company are expanding globally. The global nature of the Vendée Globe fits with our ambitions as a company.”

The final rush is quite intense with the stickers being put on the boat, the sails and the normal schedule of pre-start: cleaning, loading the the food, the spares, doing last minute checks... the day won't be long enough but the relief of being able to tell a story without being stopped for financial reasons is worth it!