Solo sailing's new star?

James Boyd speaks to BT winner Conrad Humphreys about his Vendee plans

It is his intention to sail the Vendee Globe in a new boat and he is currently investigating the options. It is most likely that the Owen Clarke Design Group will play a major role in the design of the new boat, although Humphreys is keen on the design team approach behind Ellen MacArthur's Kingfisher.
In the meantime Humphreys plans to get in as much short handed experience as he can. He hopes to take part in the Regate de Rubicon and will crew for his former number two on the Mini in this year's events such as the Triangle de Soleil - a long distance two handed event in the Mediterranean.

"Now I've made the decision to go down the Open route my priority is to get as much experience as I can on these boats," he says. He would also like to race in the Route du Rhum this November, but this will be no easy task. "The next step is the Route du Rhum. The hardest thing is that race is oversubscribed and that means that finding a boat will be difficult. Most boats that are available are up for sale, not charter".

The proposed schedule for his Vendee Globe project will be designing the boat from April until August this year, with the build starting in August. This would results in a launch in March next year. He then plans to enter the EDS Round Britain in June 2003 followed by the two handed Transat Jacques Vabre. This will effectively give him a year of racing taking in the 2004 OSTAR prior to the November start of the Vendee Globe.

At present though there is the small matter of money. Humphries says that he has been speaking to one of the big London sports marketing agencies who he hopes will be sponsor hunting on his behalf. He is looking for a title sponsor to come in for £2 million, although he sees the total budget getting closer to £3 million to take him up to the end of 2005. "We need £2 million for three years for a 7 race programme," he says. "The Vendee is the icing on the cake".

He is aiming to have a financial structure to his campaign comprising one major sponsor and 12 business club sponsors, but admits that this is easier said than done. "I'm working to maintain sponsorship partners. Two years of leading a team in the BT Global Challenge gives you a lot of experience in terms of leading a prorject, but you don't have to look for the sponsorship and 90% of getting to the start line is the time taken in getting the money".

As an added attraction to sponsors will be the educational side of his program. "We're now in the process of developing a thorough educational program. We plan to take 25 schools around the world with us".

Will he get the sponsorship he requires? Conrad Humphreys has a combination of youth and experience on his side and a reasonable degree of profile from his BT Global Challenge win. Ellen MacArthur's incredible success in the last Vendee Globe can only have helped young hopefuls such as him get into the board rooms of potential corporate sponsors. Yet it is hard to guage whether he has the same fire burning in his soul and the same uncompromising attitude and focus to doing this event at any cost which enabled both Ellen and Pete Goss before her to get to the start line. Raising £2 million for an event such as this is still by no means an easy task in the UK. We hope he nails it.