Aussies secure new sponsor for Volvo Ocean Race

by Media Services on 29 Nov 2005 The Australian V70 skippered by Grant Wharington will sail the second leg in the Volvo Ocean Race from Cape Town to Melbourne as ING Real Estate / Brunel.

This has been agreed by all parties in a joint sponsoring contract signed today (November 27).

Currently, the Australian team participates in the race under the name of Sunergy and Friends with both Brunel International and ING Real Estate as sub-sponsors. The involvement of Brunel International in the round the world yacht race dates back to 1997/1998, when it sponsored an entry in the Whitbread race.

Brunel International and ING Real Estate have largely the same reasons for their sponsorship decision:

- The world-wide appeal of the round the world race fits the global character of both sponsors
- Teamwork, endurance and performance focus match the company values of both sponsors
- Australia is an important market for both.

Jan Arie van Barneveld, CEO Brunel International: ‘Sponsoring the [Whitbread Race] yacht eight years ago created a fantastic sense of pride in our staff and as we have expanded so much since then, we thought it would be beneficial for all our new employees to enjoy such an experience. Up until now they were only able to listen to our long serving employees relive their adventures and now they get to do it first hand! We are all very excited, and are confident that this project will be a great success.’

ING Real Estate’s Hein Brand, CEO Finance, said: ‘We have been involved with the Australian team from the beginning as building sponsor because we were convinced that they had all the skills and experience to be a serious contender. We were also confident that a title sponsor for the whole race would be found. Unfortunately this has not happened. We are now stepping up our involvement to give the Aussie team their well-deserved chance to arrive first in Melbourne’s Waterfront City, a major dockland redevelopment project of ING Real Estate.’