Volvo Ocean Race Team Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing announce new sponsor

by Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing on 27 Jun 2011 Volvo Ocean Race 2011-12 starts in Alicante, Spain in October 2011 and ends in Galway, Ireland, during early July 2012.

IWC Schaffhausen, the International Watch Company, has signed up with Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority (ADTA) to become the first major sponsor of its Volvo Ocean Race 2011-12 team, Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing.

The landmark deal, marking the luxury Swiss brand’s debut in top-tier global team sport sponsorship, will run throughout the entire Volvo Ocean Race 2011-12 campaign, after visiting nine stopovers, including the UAE capital on New Year’s Day.

Under the agreement, the partners will foster enhanced promotional and awareness initiatives around the team’s pursuit of top honours in this 39,000 nautical mile round-the-world race, widely regarded as the ‘Everest of Sailing.’ The IWC Schaffhausen logo will also be featured on the team’s new Volvo Open 70 racing yacht, which launches next month.

'We share a pioneering spirit based on the fundamentals of tradition,' said His Excellency Mubarak Al Muhairi, Director General, ADTA – Team Principal for Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing.

'This is a coming together of two organisations that have a great deal in common, including the pursuit of perfection, strong community responsibility, unwavering commitment to sustainable business practices and the environment, and a desire to excel beyond expectation. Together we will chart a course of mutual and steadfast success.'

The Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing deal is the second Volvo Ocean Race 2011-12 associated partnership for IWC Schaffhausen, after it signed on as the event’s Official Timekeeper in January.

'For over 140 years, IWC has epitomised values such as engineering excellence, perfection, pioneering spirit, quality and passion. We are proud to put these attributes to the test as the Official Timekeeper for the forthcoming Volvo Ocean Race and to share them with Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing team,' said Georges Kern, CEO, IWC Schaffhausen.

The crew of Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing, the first Arabian challenger in the 37-year history of the Volvo Ocean Race, is undergoing final training, having spent the winter in the UAE capital.

Over the last few months, the team has been spread all over the globe with weather training in the USA, wind-tunnel sail testing in New Zealand, race practice in the UK and Hong Kong, as well as mast construction in Spain and yacht build in Italy.

The 11-strong outfit - which is skippered by double-Olympic medallist, Ian Walker of Great Britain - will take delivery of its new state-of-the-art racing yacht at the end of this month. It was designed by Farr in the USA and is being built in Northern Italy by Persico S.p.A.

Once delivered, the team will undertake a rigorous Atlantic Ocean sailing programme, before heading to the race start in Spain this October.

The 2011-12 Volvo Ocean Race will be contested around six continents and across four oceans before ending in Galway, Ireland, in summer 2012. Abu Dhabi will welcome teams from 1-14 January 2012 after they complete a gruelling leg from Cape Town.

ADTA has committed to staging a fortnight-long, emirate-wide celebration to mark the Volvo Ocean Race arrival – from headline concerts and interactive race villages for the whole family to great holiday packages across Abu Dhabi’s plethora of 4 and 5 star resorts.

The Volvo Open 70 racing yacht is sailed by professional athletes, who race around the world with the prevailing Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing Volvo Ocean Race website