Ticket to ride, for an adventure, to the Vendée Globe!
by Agence TB Press 7 Feb 2019 02:52 PST
Aan adventure to Vendée Globe © Matt Knighton
With the build of the latest generation IMOCA 60 in full swing at the Persico yard in Northern, Italy Thomas Ruyant is pursuing his search for partners with the desire to be part of the peak adventure in the world of long distance solo offshore racing. The Autumn of 2020 will be marked by the start of the 9th edition of the classic Vendée Globe Race, the non-stop singlehanded round the world race, an event marked as much by the popular intervention of over 1.5 million fans during the three week race village before the start as the 60 million euros or so of media value the top teams are each likely to generate during the three month circumnavigation.
The 38-year old sailor hailing from the North of France has set himself up with a support team at the level of his project's ambitions. Thomas can comfortably project, with full confidence, the values and unusual dynamic of this top drawer, turn-key programme, to investors, sponsors, partners and CSR programmes. Thomas' campaign is up and running on all fronts with staff, technical solutions and an amazing new boat in construction.
"As we head further into 2019 it has become clear that the sports and technical strategy we chose to follow places us now as the only competitive project fully available today for an ambitious sponsorship activation programme. Through media and experiential fulfilment, via both internal and external communications, this is the last remaining opportunity for one or more partners tempted by the values of the Vendée Globe," hammers out Ruyant." The door to many big adventures is wide open. Those that desire to be part of this just have to run up along-side us and get on board for an amazing ride..."
An impressive line-up of talent for a high performance project
Totally focussed on the future and with the programme's key moments approaching at high speed, including the highly anticipated launch of his Verdier-designed IMOCA 60 in July of this year, Thomas Ruyant has an ambitious sports and technology programme in place, something he has aspired to since the mid-race interruption of his 2016-2017 Vendée Globe campaign.
"We have gathered together all the parts that, in my opinion, really matter. This is a performance-oriented campaign which has meant the build and launch of an innovative and scary-fast new IMOCA 60. Members of the team involved are the best at what they do. Guillaume Verdier and his team are the discipline's reference naval architects today. The design group also includes François Pernelle for all calculations and system integration studies from within TRR's own design office, along with Antoine Koch who works hand-in-hand with Verdier for the all-important appendage package. Laurent Bourguès, who has been my righthand man for many years is the Technical Director and Marcus Hutchinson, who needs little introduction, is the Team Manager.
The addition of all this talent has allowed the programme to take shape and evolve in the best possible way. Just one thing remains to be established - the identity of the title partner. We are looking for ambitious people to take control of this "rocket-ship" campaign, to make it the platform on which to base an active communications strategy, one like only offshore racing can deliver. I really believe we are offering an unique opportunity for a sponsor with drive and ambition. This is a winning programme and comes without the frustrating technical and administrative headaches associated with a start-up or adopting someone else's legacy. The only thing to concentrate on is to activate and communicate alongside this exceptionally rare opportunity."
Massive return on investment
The countdown has started. TR Racing intends to use the second half of 2019 to sail as many sea miles as possible with the new prototype boat with the goal of optimising performance and reliability.
"The Transat Jacques Vabre Race from Le Havre to Brazil will be the first fast run under race conditions for us. It will be really useful in helping us to get the measure of the boat. It is without question, the perfect event from which a partner can launch their communications programme. The first half of 2020 will also be the time to sail multiple transatlantic races to finish up with a boat that is reliable, optimised and ready for the start of the Vendée Globe in November 2020."
"We already know the ROI of past Vendée Globes," continues Thomas Ruyant. "It is just colossal and will be even larger for a partner that joins up now as all they have to do in reality is 'decorate the boat' in their corporate colours and activate their involvement. The project is already up and running hard. I have my destiny in my hands, and all I want to do is share it..."