Tracy Edwards-Oryx Quest-Qatar

by Courtesy Bang the Corner on 3 Oct 2004 This is an interesting excerpt from Bang the Corner.

Much has been said, written, done and not done about the ambitious project 2005 ORYX QUEST and the banter between the press delegates centred on many issues surrounding it.

We were transported the short distance to the Diplomatic Club for the official announcement for the ORYX quest 2005. After a reception in the ante-room we were lead into the conference room and to none of the media's surprise the ORYX QUEST 2005 logo was attached to that of HSBC.

We were treated to a presentation on the course for the race coupled with some footage of the giant catamarans in recent action which was stirring stuff, the video included scenes of these huge yachts surfing down immense waves in the Southern Ocean at speeds approaching 40 knots.

Tracy Edwards then gave a nervous and highly emotional speech on how much effort has been put in by the team to get it so far. At times she was visibly choked and on several occasions close to tears. This was followed by a speech by Kevin Smorthwaite the Chief Executive of HSBC in the Middle East.

He made it quite clear why HSBC has decided to headline sponsor the event. HSBC are the biggest bank in the region with over 29 offices, they see that there is a huge opportunity for them to advertise themselves as the biggest bank operating in a region where a tremendous amount of investment is taking place.

Companies looking to invest in the region will see this as a sign of HSBC's commitment and ability to deliver the right services from a bank that has reliability. A bank that is truly committed to Qatar.


The ORYX QUEST trophy was displayed after his speech a beautiful sterling silver trophy of about 2 ft in height (56cm) designed to reflect the State of Qatar; it is encrusted with diamonds, mother of pearl and gold.

The announcement was also attended by five skippers of these huge catamarans: Loick Peyron (Code one), Olivier de Kersauson (Geronimo), Cam Lewis (Team Adventure), Mark Featherstone (Cheyenne) and Tony Bullimore (TEAM Daedalus).

The commitment by HSBC bank and the attendance of virtually all of the skippers of these giant cats is a sign that the event has made a great leap forward, however the most significant feature of the announcement was that it was in the audience of the Qatar Royal family, The crown Prince HH Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani issued a statement at the announcement, below is an extract:

‘Qatar is proud to be staging the Oryx Quest 2005 and the Quest Qatar 2006. We are most happy that such a series of global challenges on a scale not seen before should start and finish in the Middle East.

'We look forward to welcoming the world's fastest yachts and the world's finest ocean racers to our shores and showing the world what Qatar has to offer.’


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