SolOceans

This is the first single-handed oceanic round the world race to follow a France - New Zealand - France course. It will be sailed on equal footing on sixteen-metre high-tech Oceanic One Design monohulls, all completely identical. This class has been named Veolia Oceans^® after the Main Sponsor, Veolia Environmental Services, of the SolOceans race. The start of the first SolOceans is set for 25 October 2009. The SolOceans will then be run every two years. Beforehand, the first Veolia Oceans^® will sail around the world for reconnaissance purposes, from October 2007 to March 2008.

“On 15 June 2006, during a press conference held at the head office of the Fédération Française de Voile (French Sailing Federation), we announced that the SolOceans would stand out from all other existing oceanic races through three important concepts”, recalls Yvan Griboval, designer and promoter of this event on behalf of SailingOne.

“The first concept is equal opportunity for the competitors, thanks to strictly identical equipment, sails included. This is a first in round the world racing” .This is how the Veolia Oceans^® one-design was born, signed by the Finot-Conq and Associates Group, designer of the four last winners of the Vendée Globe, with technical advice from Michel Desjoyeaux. The first boat in the series is currently being built by JMV Industries in Cherbourg (Normandy) and will be finished by SailingOne in collaboration with V1D2 in Caen (Normandy). The launch is planned for next summer.

“The second concept is equal opportunity for the sponsor owners of the Veolia Oceans^®. Thanks to the stringent control of all the parameters that go into a sailing race, we will be providing each owner of a Veolia Oceans^® one-design and each sponsor of a solo-sailor competing in the SolOceans, the guarantee of a controlled budget. This totals approximately 500 000 euros per year, excluding tax, all expenses included: from the annual amortization (or rental) of the Oceanic One Design to the media coverage contract, including the payroll, maintenance costs, insurance and consumables, including sails”, Yvan Griboval explains again.

“The third important concept is to guarantee media coverage prior to the event, so that each partner of the SolOceans is certain to obtain a return on his investment in line with his expectations, as is the case for any media communications operation” . Another important undertaking that now decreases a firm's investment risks in oceanic racing is that “each sponsor of a team competing in the SolOceans is guaranteed media coverage in the form of a contract dissociated from the skipper's sporting result. Media coverage linked to sporting results will only be provided as a supplement to the contract, a sort of bonus linked to the talent of the sailors”, concludes Yvan Griboval.

The agreement signed between SailingOne and Eurosport Events is of significant advantage to the SolOceans. It depends, in the first instance, on the 110 million homes (240 millions of viewers) reached by the Eurosport channel, in 20 languages and in 59 countries. Eurosport Events, chaired by Jacques Béhar, is a new subsidiary of the Eurosport Group, whose aim is to organise, promote and develop international sporting events, in the image of motor racing competitions, such as FIA World Touring Car Championship - WTCC; Intercontinental Rally Challenge - IRC; International Formula Master - IFM; CIK-FIA European Karting Championship.

“Our partnership with SailingOne primarily marks the recognition of the work accomplished to date, by Yvan Griboval and his company SailingOne, notably on the Trophée Clairefontaine des Champions and the Course des Falaises. We are proud to participate at his side in this new world race, by assisting SailingOne with a global communication on the Eurosport platform and on all the world media, which will surely follow the SolOceans on its reconnaissance tour leaving France for New Zealand (October-December 2007), then New Zealand to France by Cape Horn (January-March 2008)”, explains Jacques Béhar, President and CEO of Eurosport Events.

This agreement between SailingOne and Eurosport Events will also be valid for the Trophée Clairefontaine des Champions de Voile and the Final of the French Solo Offshore Racing Championship - Course des Falaises. This offers a guarantee of exceptional media coverage for sailing events. All the partners of the SailingOne event will benefit from it, whether they are involved with the organization or accompanying competitors.

Moreover, the French and New Zealand prologue, start, stopover and finish sites of the SolOceans have now been determined. The official announcements will be made according to the initial SolOceans schedule; that is to say before the midsummer break for the French sites and during the second fortnight of September for the stopover site in New Zealand.

The pricing, the description and the one-design rules of the Veolia Oceans^® will be presented next September, at the time of the first tests of the first boat in the series. Many skippers from different countries, who have shown interest in this new concept, will participate. The opening of the pre-registration list - for a dozen Veolia Oceans^® to be produced before summer 2009 - is already scheduled for the next Paris International Boat Show, on the stand of the French start and finish site of the SolOceans.