GREAT Britain boat aims to promote iconic brands in global yacht race
A campaign to attract iconic UK brands to partner one of the new Clipper 70 yachts in the next Clipper Round the World Yacht Race has been launched in Downing Street raising the prospect of a GREAT Britain team taking part in the Clipper 13-14 Race.
Clipper Ventures, the organiser of the Clipper Race, was selected to take part in the GREAT Britain campaign. The initiative known as the Global Trade Winds Partnership will promote British business in key international markets alongside the world’s longest yacht race, a British success story in itself, and help to maintain the British sailing legacy built on the success of Team GB at the 2012 Olympic Games.
Clipper Race chairman, the legendary yachtsman Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, who became the first person to sail solo, non-stop, around the world in 1968-9, launched the biennial race for amateur sailors 17 years ago. The unique global event has also grown into a successful platform to promote trade and tourism along the way. It is the world’s longest race at 40,000 miles and visits 15 destinations on six continents.
“I’ve been proud to support the GREAT Britain campaign during our Olympic year and for the Clipper Race to fly the flag around the world,” said Sir Robin at the launch at Downing Street today, where the Prime Minister’s Office leads the GREAT Britain campaign.
“Promoting GREAT British brands on a GREAT Britain branded boat as a legacy project in the next Clipper Race is an exciting prospect,” added Sir Robin.
The project aims to attract ten lead partners, each contributing £150,000, to sponsor a GREAT Britain branded yacht over the next two years and participate in a global promotion campaign that will link up with UK trade and tourism global marketing initiatives.
The initiative has been endorsed by Sports and Tourism Minister, the Rt Hon Hugh Robertson MP. He stated, “For 17 years the Clipper Race has played a leading role in promoting British sailing and is now a core asset for British business internationally. We have experienced a truly memorable 2012, and it is organisations like this that will continue to push our sporting prowess.
“This is a unique opportunity, bringing together our sporting legacy with some of the strongest and most vibrant British brands. I look forward to seeing a GREAT Britain yacht launch in 2013.”
The ninth edition of the Clipper Race will start from the UK next Summer and take a year to complete with more than 600 crew participating over the eight leg series in a new matched fleet of twelve 70 foot ocean racing yachts. The event attracts large global media audiences with a cumulative reach in excess of two billion people in more than 200 countries. (Source: Kantar Media Precis)
GREAT Britain Team Partners will be able to engage with a comprehensive set of branding and activation opportunities alongside an exceptional human adventure with crew of all ages and from all walks of life: ‘ordinary’ people doing something extraordinary, participating to take on the challenge of ocean racing and achieve something remarkable.
Sir Robin added: “In the current economic climate our horizons need to be global to take advantage of trading opportunities in developing and growing markets; innovative approaches are required to be more competitive. We look forward to working with GREAT British brand partners, and the UK Government through the Prime Minister’s office, to deliver a powerful and effective international marketing campaign.”
