Please select your home edition
Edition
Lloyd Stevenson - SYA3 728x90px TOP

It's time to throw Conrad Colman a lifeline…

by Ed Gorman / IMOCA Globe Series 26 Mar 02:06 PDT
Conrad Colman © Jean-Louis Carli / IMOCA

The racing apart, the big headlines in the IMOCA Class these days are almost always about expensive new boats, new sponsorships, even new team structures.

Less is heard about the skippers who are fighting to survive in boats at the older end of the fleet, for whom finding sponsorship to underpin their Vendée Globe campaigns is like panning for gold.

One of them is the 39-year-old New Zealander who also holds American citizenship, Conrad Colman, and it is strange that he should, be in this category. That's because it is hard to think of a more complete candidate in the IMOCA ranks for full title backing from a major international company, either based in France or elsewhere.

Colman has a properly impressive sailing CV. He has raced around the world three times, including completing the 2016-17 Vendée Globe in 16th place. He was the first Kiwi to achieve that feat, as he was the first New Zealander to enter the Figaro or compete in the Route du Rhum-Destination Guadeloupe. What is more, he is right on the money when it comes to climate change - Colman was the first skipper to finish the Vendée Globe without using any fossil fuels.

In addition to his achievements on the water, Colman is a fluent French speaker and an excellent communicator who worked on the last Volvo Ocean Race as an expert summariser and analyst, helping to explain the race to non-sailing audiences.

Added to all this, is the fact that Colman has demonstrated his total commitment to his dream of competing in the next Vendée Globe, by taking out an €800,000 loan. This financed his purchase of Imagine - a VPLP Verdier design from 2007 - and his participation in all the IMOCA Globe Series races in 2022, including the Route du Rhum - Destination Guadeloupe, in which he finished in 18th place overall and fourth in the daggerboard division.

Yet still this likeable and modest Kiwi, who admits that the loan hangs heavy over his life and even interrupts his sleep, is without the support he needs. "Never more so, have I been such a complete candidate," he said. "No one is putting my experience or my ability to run these campaigns into question. Even with a boat that is a lot slower on paper, I've still done a very good job on the water this past year."

Discussions with possible sponsors or partners are continually on-going, but Colman says a failure to secure title backing by July, to underpin an operational budget of around €600,000-a-year, is now putting his whole 2024 Vendée campaign and his 2023 season in jeopardy.

At times a deal has felt close, but Colman has found he is at the mercy of forces he cannot control. "The idea was to do the 2022 season and show the potential of what I could do and then use that opportunity to sell sponsorship," he told the Class this week. "We made really good progress with that and had a number of companies that were really interested - particularly on the back of a strong Route du Rhum, which featured good communications and a pretty good ranking. But then the bottom fell out of the economy and the companies we were talking to were in the tech sector in America which has been particularly upset of late."

Colman is at the frontline in IMOCA terms, trying to speak to the wider world about what this Class is about, and what the Vendée Globe and its qualifying races means and represents to the people who take part and to those who support and follow them.

"It's tricky as an English-speaking, France-based international skipper," he explained. "My card to play in this area is to bring international companies, who have a France presence, into this world to try and increase the exposure of ocean racing and also open up our world to a bigger audience. That has also exposed me a little bit more to the vagaries of the international economy, with the war in Ukraine and post-Covid inflation and so on, which has made it that much harder to sell."

He is at pains to point out that French companies are interested in him as well as international corporations and right now, he has discussions on-going with several of them, with everything on the table from naming rights downwards.

You might think that with their passion for sailing in New Zealand - the nation that currently holds the America's Cup after all - there could be a link-up there. But Colman says the Vendée Globe remains a distant event to the Kiwi public and corporate world, much as he wishes that was not the case. "I have lots of enthusiastic Kiwis wishing me well, but I've struggled to get the attention of corporate New Zealand - or thus far, and I'd love to be proved wrong," he said.

The next few weeks could be crucial for Colman as he prepares for the new season, hoping for that serendipitous meeting that could spell the beginning of a new era in his career, one that could include not only the next Vendée Globe but the next Ocean Race too. After his experience working on the last Volvo Ocean Race, he has been watching this event carefully and he has been impressed.

"I think it's an incredible first edition that really shows the potential," he said. "People have frequently criticised the move to IMOCA, because they predicted the boats would be all spread out and there would be no action on the water, particularly coming from the one-design era. But, in fact, it is even closer than what we saw last time around."

"Never have we seen four boats in sight of each other at Point Nemo - that's absolutely ground-breaking and I think it's wonderful," he added. "The race is a great window into what we do, and it's awesome having media men and women on board IMOCAs. Visually it has been incredibly dramatic and the narratives of getting to know the individual sailors on board, but also the dramas of keeping the boats in one piece, have been fantastic."

Related Articles

Nick Moloney joins Canada Ocean Racing
As double-handed sailing partner alongside Scott Shawyer for Transat Jacques Vabre Scott Shawyer, president, and skipper of Canada Ocean Racing, continues his journey towards becoming the first Canadian to finish the Vendée Globe by announcing Nick Moloney as his coach and double-handed sailing partner for the Transat Jacques Vabre 2023 Posted today at 5:50 pm
L'Occitane en Provence: good vibes from Clarisse
The young French skipper got to grips a little bit more with her IMOCA during the Défi Azimut The young French skipper got to grips a little bit more with her IMOCA L'Occitane en Provence alongside her co-skipper Alan Roberts at the end of their second race together, the Défi Azimut. Posted on 26 Sep
Team Malizia completes the 48 hour Défi Azimut
An intense 48 hours of racing for Boris Herrmann and Will Harris Boris Herrmann and Will Harris crossed the finish line of the 48 hour Défi Azimut race in seventh place this afternoon after 2 days of racing in the Atlantic which saw them face intense and various weather conditions. Posted on 24 Sep
Beyou and Cammas win Défi Azimut 48-Hours
Charal competitive on all points of sail Charal is one of the most focused and well-resourced teams in the ever-growing IMOCA ranks led by two of the best offshore ocean racing sailors, in Jérémie Beyou and Franck Cammas. Posted on 23 Sep
"I still think about Vendée Globe all the time"
British yachtsman Mike Golding is back on an IMOCA Ten years after he raced his last Vendée Globe, finishing sixth, British yachtsman Mike Golding is back on an IMOCA, making ready to compete on the upcoming Transat Jacques Vabre, and says he'd still love to do a fifth Vendée Globe. Posted on 23 Sep
Clarisse Crémer names her IMOCA
"L'Occitane en Provence" named this Tuesday, in Brittany, France After an especially intense start to this adventure, L'Occitane sailing team and their partners were invited to name the IMOCA this Tuesday, in Brittany, France. Posted on 23 Sep
Boris Herrmann & Will Harris to race Défi Azimut
They are off for 48 hours of racing in the Atlantic They are off for 48 hours of racing in the Atlantic: Team Malizia's Boris Herrmann and Will Harris crossed the start line of the Défi Azimut offshore race today which sees them compete against 32 IMOCAs in Atlantic waters. Posted on 21 Sep
Défi Azimut: Sorel looks to continue strong season
An interesting weather picture and many new skipper-co-skipper pairings for the race With no less than 34 teams on the startline, an interesting weather picture and many new skipper-co-skipper pairings, this year's Défi Azimut-Lorient Agglomération 48-Hours double-handed race is going to be something special. Posted on 21 Sep
The Ocean Race and Cabo Verde team up
Signing a Memorandum of Understanding to protect and restore ocean health Following a successful stopover and hosting of The Ocean Race Summit in January 2023, Cabo Verde and The Ocean Race will focus on protecting and promoting ocean health through sport and science... Posted on 20 Sep
Call for recognition of inherent ocean rights
Made by The Ocean Race and global partners The Ocean Race, the Government of Cabo Verde and US-based Earth Law Center present principles to guide a new relationship with the ocean. Posted on 19 Sep
Zhik 2023 September Seaboot 700 FOOTERPredictWind - Offshore App 728x90 BOTTOMHenri-Lloyd 2022 December - SW FOOTER