Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, Chairman of Clipper Ventures PLC – organisers of the VELUX 5 OCEANS – has confirmed an unprecedented investment in skippers who enter the 2010-11 edition of the classic solo round the world ocean race.

The support will be offered as a minimum to the first 12 teams who officially enter the event:

– ?3,500 per stopover to defray accommodation costs at host ports (total of ?21,000)
– ?10,000 contribution towards communications during the race
– ?5,000 offered towards logistics costs around the world

This represents an investment of ?36,000 per skipper, which will be further supported by a total prizefund of ?500,000 as well as supplementary value in kind across all services up to a total investment of ?1.8 million.

Sir Robin commented: “In December, we announced that VELUX and Clipper Ventures would look to actively deliver ?1.8 million of value to skippers who take part in the VELUX 5 OCEANS 2010-11.

“Having committed ?500,000 to a prizemoney pot to be split across the legs and fleets, we promised to offer support across the key budget areas of accommodation, communications and logistics. We are now pleased to confirm the first stage of that breakdown, with a direct investment of ?36,000 per team during the race. We will continue to deliver further value for skippers to reach our target.”

He concluded, “We are very conscious that the format of our event, spanning eight months, visiting five continents and encompassing five ocean sprints, can introduce supplementary costs, especially during such challenging economic times. Although we know that our event offers un-paralleled media exposure and a unique hospitality platform on the Open 60 racing calendar, VELUX and Clipper Ventures realised that we need to go further in our support of our competitors in order to make the race an attractive proposition for sponsors and skippers alike.”

Click below to see footage from VELUX 5 OCEANS 2006/7

Details of the Skipper Support package:

Clipper Ventures and VELUX will jointly deliver value to participating skippers of the VELUX 5 OCEANS, which will start on 17 October 2010 from La Rochelle (France) and will include five ocean sprints that visit Cape Town (South Africa), Wellington (New Zealand), Salvador (Brazil) and Charleston (USA).

The first stage of that breakdown is a direct investment of ?36,000 per team during the race and ?500,000 to prize money.

This investment and value creation will be structured in the following way:

– ?500,000 Prize money
– ?250,000 Accommodation Support
– ?120,000 Communications Support
– ?60,000 Logistics Support

?500,000 Skipper Prizefund
The total prizefund will be split across the 2 fleets and will reward performance over each Ocean Sprint, recognising finishing positions, media work and environmental performance.

The breakdown will be determined closer to race start once the fleet size is known, although the majority of prizemoney will be committed to the Open 60 Class.

?250,000 Accommodation Support:
The first 12 teams to officially enter the VELUX 5 OCEANS will receive a cheque for ?3,500 at each stopover around the world to defray accommodation costs. The race management team and partners in each port will deliver further value to skippers by special accommodation packages, negotiated on behalf of skippers.

?120,000 Communications Support
The first 12 teams to officially enter the VELUX 5 OCEANS will each receive a 10,000 investment towards communications. This will be offered across hardware, software or airtime services depending on the needs of each team. Partnerships with leading providers across all communications areas will be built to offer additional value to skippers.

?60,000 Logistics Support
The first 12 teams to officially enter the VELUX 5 OCEANS will each receive a ?5,000 investment towards logistics costs. The Race Management will be partnering with a supplier to ship materials around the world and will offer special packages for sharing costs and services.

For further information, please contact the Race Director of Communications, Tim Kelly:
t44 7773 325 533
e tkelly@velux5oceans.com