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The Race II will start in 2004

by The Race Media 26 Oct 2001 15:46 BST

After consulting with the different challengers who met recently in Southampton, The Race Event organising team officially decided to launch the next edition of THE RACE.

For scheduling reasons and in order not to conflict with future editions of the America's Cup (2003) and the Vendée Globe (2005), the start of next edition of THE RACE will be in February 2004. From now on, the event will take place every four years (2004, 2008, 2012Š).

This decision fits in more broadly with the concept of creating an international tour for these giant multihulls. This new tour will establish a permanent world ranking and a Global Trophy that will take into account, in addition to THE RACE, the greatest major sailing records of the planet, such as the Jules Verne Trophy, the Atlantic, the Pacific, the Tea Route or the New York ­ San Francisco... This tour will be set up in close consultation with the principal actors involved so that the interests of each challenger's syndicate are taken into consideration.

A great annual or bi-annual gathering of these giant multihulls is also planned to become part of the official calendar of events. The main objective of this particular event will be to showcase to the general public the best of the leading edge ocean sailboat racing technologies. It will also provide sponsors with an international promotional and public relations event. The first edition of "Les Voiles du Futur" could take place in a major European harbour as early as the summer of 2003.

THE SPIRIT OF THE RACE 2004!

The Race Event team is continuing to consult with challengers prior to making any final decisions but has already reconfirmed that the spirit, philosophy, image and values of THE RACE will be maintained. As in the first edition of THE RACE in 2001, the skippers themselves will, along with the organisers, define the event's general sporting rules. The next edition of THE RACE will still take place in the "no limits" spirit, along an easterly circumnavigation route around the three capes. "We strongly believe in keeping the simplicity and purity of the non-stop course, just like the no limits philosophy, so that boat construction is not subject to any restrictions or rules. THE RACE 2001 taught us that budgets are smaller when no rules are imposed. We now know that a race without limits is, paradoxically, the only way to give a modestly financed syndicate a chance of beating a richer syndicate through a different design concept. For 2004, we expect to see a much stronger line-up of challengers, with a corresponding increase in the level of competition and a greater equalisation of performances. Anything we can do to increase the sporting interest of the event will be done. We will modify, for instance, the penalty rules, which were too high for the previous edition and, along with the challengers, will consider the creation of strategic gateways in order to regroup the fleet and consequently intensify the sporting dimension of the event. Steve Fossett's recent Atlantic record of less than 5 days and the performance of Olivier de Kersauson's new giant trimaran bodes well for sporting dimension of future confrontations between "THE RACE generation" boats.

Indeed, the fleet of giants sailing today will be confronted with the arrival of new maxi multihulls (trimarans and catamarans of 110 / 120 ft), as well as maxi-monohulls (100 / 150 ft) for whom the event shall likely be opened up after further reflection on this subject. "These exceptional maxi-yachts, which are currently under full development, are being designed more and more for ocean record sailing and share the same values as the multihulls in terms of innovation, high technology and performance. Excluded from traditional sailing competitions by rules precisely because they are built without standardized limits (No Limits), these giant monohulls (the same size as the prestigious J Class) have never been able to show their mettle in any ocean race worthy of their performance. THE RACE was built on a logic of openness and internationalisation: we want to continue expanding upon this same logic".

As for the organisation itself, The Race Event team is currently exploring joining forces with an internationally respected group in order to optimise all key sectors of the event and encourage the growth and development of a future world tour of giant multihulls. The announcement of this partnership could be made in the coming months. This partnership would also facilitate the improvement of the quality of marketing/communication programs provided to both the event's and the syndicates' partners and thereby improve the conditions over the short and medium term (2004, 2008) for the emergence of new challengers of international standing.

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