Premier Challenge becomes 'Sunergy and Friends'

by Bindy Lockhart on 12 Nov 2005 Grant Wharington and his Premier Challenge syndicate have announced that they have secured the funding to enable them to sail out of Vigo, Spain, bound for Cape Town and begin their race around the world.

Their Australian designed and built Volvo Open 70 yacht will be re-named ‘Sunergy and Friends’, and will be crewed by an impressive list of mostly Australian sailing professionals. Barney Walker, a long time sailing partner of Grant Wharington, will be on board and will take up his pivotal role as Sailing Master and Watch Captain. They are joined by New Zealander Jeff Scott, another around-the-world stalwart. Both Walker and Scott are well known for their no-nonsense approach to offshore yacht racing.

For the entire team, the start of the Volvo Ocean Race marks the finish of an arguably more arduous race against time to make it to the start line. Only just over a week ago Rotterdam-based Benno Wiersma, founder and shareholder of Sunergy, which specializes in solar-cell technology, decided to sponsor the Australian entry and keep the boat in the race. By sponsoring the Premier Challenge, Sunergy wants to put the spotlight on the development of solar technology as an affordable future alternative to fossil fuel.

According to Wiersma, his sponsorship investment carries a serious message. ‘From the word go we have been impressed by the drive and ambition of this crew to get ready against all the odds. They are an incredibly professional and determined group of guys, and have a strong and exceptionally well-built boat. This mirrors our ambition to let the world know that solar energy is a must. We have to strive to achieve our goals.’

Putting an all-Australian challenge together has been a life-long dream for Wharington, a Rolex Sydney to Hobart winner, and he is delighted that they have made it. ‘I can’t quite believe it really,’ he smiled, ‘this project has had so many ups and downs and to be here with such an awesome team of guys is a really great feeling. I am so proud of all of them. They have worked so, so hard to prepare the boat under such extreme time pressure.

‘It’s been pretty hectic that’s for sure - we have flown, shipped and trucked all sorts of pieces of equipment from all over the world including a lighter, high-performance keel fin. It has been full on.

‘To do this is hard enough under normal circumstances but we are trying to do in a week what the other teams have had months to do. We have had to change the configuration of the yacht, prepare all our new sails, safety equipment, freeze dried food and clothing – not to mention comply with all of the tough safety and measurement criteria set by the race organizers. It has been a hard slog.

‘Of course we are all extremely excited about our new commercial partner ‘Sunergy and Friends’ and take this opportunity to thank them for moving so fast and believing in us. I would also like to thank all our partners that have stuck by us through the hard times – in particular ING Real Estate and the Victorian State Government. It’s been pretty bleak at times but now we are all looking forward to starting to realise our collective dream together through this new and exciting ‘Sunergy and Friends’ project.’

The yacht has some final checks to be made by the Chief Measurer, James Dadd, at lunchtime today to ensure that ‘Sunergy and Friends’ qualifies as a Volvo Open 70, but Wharington is confident that Australia will have their first Volvo Open 70 racer on the start line on Saturday.

He nods and smiles, ‘I am sure that it will all be worth it when we sail through the start on Saturday to start this world-famous endurance race. Then the race will really be on and we can’t wait. Bring it on!’


Syndicate Structure
Head, Grant Wharington
Chairman, Matt Allen
CEO, Bindy Lockhart

Designer, Don Jones, AUS

Race Crew
Grant Wharington, Skipper, AUS
Ian 'Barney' Walker, Watch Captain, AUS
Jeff Scott, Watch Captain, NZ
Graeme Taylor, Crew, AUS
Adam Hawkins, Crew, AUS
Guy Salter, Crew, UK
Campbell Field, Navigator, NZ
Mark Bartlett, Crew, UK
Fraser Brown, Crew, NZ
Mark Thomas, Crew, AUS

Sponsors’ Background

Dutch-based SUNERGY is leading a project which aims at realising a break-through in commercially applied solar energy. Together with power supply company Delta, venture capitalists Rabo Participaties and ING Participaties, SUNERGY is aimed at the future commercial application of solar-cell technology. Wiersma is founder and shareholder of SUNERGY Investo, which is based in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. The company also specializes in real estate with the primary focus on developing affordable students and starters homes worldwide.

ING REAL ESTATE is an international real estate company, active in real estate investment management, development and finance. The company ranks among the world's three largest real estate players and has offices in fifteen countries in Europe, the United States, Asia and Australia.

Media and the Volvo Ocean Race

The Volvo Ocean Race started with an in port race in Sanxenxo, Galicia, on November 5, 2005.

The start of leg one, the first offshore leg, will be from Vigo, Galicia, on November 12, 2005.

The Volvo Ocean race is a round the world yacht race featuring nine offshore racing legs. Included in the 2005-2006 event will be an inshore race at each of the main stopover ports including Melbourne Docklands, which will be hosted by Waterfront City.

Four teams from the last race measured the media value of their exposure. The results showed an average of US$50 million, which equates to a 200-300% return on their sponsorship investment.

Volvo Ocean Race achieved a cumulative audience of over 800 million viewers ranking it among the top international sporting events.

Research on awareness of the competing teams was also conducted which again showed an increase by up to 30% for some sponsors.

Some facts:
The longest yacht race in the world – over 31,250 nautical miles.
Attracting investment of over € 300 million.
No 7 in the list of the most watched sporting events on TV in the world.
Terrestrial & Satellite television coverage in 177 countries.
No 4 in the list of countries covered by a sports event.
Seen by a cumulative audience of over 1.5 billion viewers worldwide.
Visiting eight of the world’s great ports.

The Melbourne Stopover

Melbourne’s first-ever visit by the world’s premier ocean race will spark four weeks of celebrations as Waterfront City hosts the Melbourne Stopover of the Volvo Ocean Race.

Waterfront City in Melbourne Docklands will be the focal point for a huge range of land and water-based festivities, starting with the arrival of the spectacular leading-edge Volvo Open 70 racing yachts, expected from January 17, 2006.

Visitors will be able to soak up the atmosphere by the water, meet the crews, visit team displays, view the yachts up-close and racing on Port Phillip Bay, see sailing activities on Victoria Harbour and enjoy the huge public entertainment program presented by the City of Melbourne – all for free.

January 21-22
Melbourne Food and Wine on the Water presents the Tastes of the Sea culinary festival, welcome celebrations and the opening of the Waterfront City Race Village, plus the Club Marine Challenge Rally.

January 26-29
Encompasses Australia Day long weekend celebrations, the Skandia Geelong Week sailing regatta, plus the Boating Victoria Motor Cruiser Rally.

February 4-5
The crucial in-port race weekend, as well as the Classic and Couta Boat Challenge and the Forster Cup

February 11-12
Farewell carnivale-style celebrations, Wine at the Waterfront and the New Quay Marina Summer Boat Show.