Ellen goes Open 60

The rumours are true as the girl wonder announces her forthcoming campaign

After the conclusion of the Asian Record Circuit onboard her trimaran B&Q Castorama, Ellen’s focus will, once again, return to one of the world’s largest and most exciting ocean racing fleets - the IMOCA Open 60 monohull class. After nearly ten years in the sport of professional short-handed sailing, the foundations are now in place for an exciting future.

Ellen’s objective is to head-up a two-boat IMOCA 60 team, to include some of the world’s best sailors to be selected over the coming months, aiming for victory in the IMOCA World Championship circuit 2007-9. The circuit covers thousands of ocean racing miles in a mix of solo, two-up and five-up races; a truly international fleet of over 25 competitive boats, racing around Europe, North America and, of course, around the planet. With these new responsibilities as syndicate head, Ellen has made a decision to take a step back from solo sailing herself and concentrate her efforts in putting together an IMOCA 60 team that can compete at the very top end of the sport, utilising nearly a decade of experience and extraordinary success.

This team will combine the talents of sailors who have the ability to reach the podium with the support of a shore team that has unrivalled expertise. Ellen has decided not to compete in the 2008/09 Vendée Globe although may sail as co-skipper of the second boat in the crewed events of the IMOCA circuit if that is considered to be in the best interest of the development of this new sailing team.

Ellen comments: “The recent South Georgia expedition and life with the albatrosses was in many ways a life-changing voyage and adventure for me. My eyes have been opened to many aspects of the world around us that in our everyday lives we have little time to notice, let alone take in. After nearly ten years of full-on professional sailing including, if you add it up, a year’s worth of racing solo, I wanted to use the time down there to think about what I do next.

"The conclusion of the amazing title sponsorship with B&Q later this year, gives me a natural opportunity to broaden my horizons and begin the process of working with our fast-growing team at OC Group. This company is co-owned by myself and Mark Turner, who has managed the business since it began in 1995. While I was at sea, Mark held the reins onshore and now it is time for me to put my energy and experience I’ve gained into the ongoing success of the company and the development of the Offshore Challenges Sailing Team."

B&Q’s headline sponsorship will conclude as planned following the upcoming 2006 Asian Record Circuit. The Asian Record Circuit is the final chapter in the story for B&Q as headline sponsors. Having supported Ellen for eight years in one of the most successful sporting partnerships ever, B&Q will release its rights to the title sponsorship at the end of its planned term, and having exceeded all its business expectations. The media return alone after the successful solo record attempt ran into tens of millions of pounds, and the project was widely acclaimed by the sponsorship industry. The contract will be completed in October 2006 marking the end of an era for both Ellen and B&Q.

“Our partnership with Ellen and her team was a sound business investment which has delivered significant value to the B&Q brand. This was a sponsorship full of innovations, the likes of dual branding on the boat with one side B&Q and the other side Castorama getting two sponsorships for the price of one. We had high expectations of the sponsorship and even they have been exceeded through Ellen’s achievements in the past few years. The live coverage generated of Ellen and the B&Q brand on her successful return to Falmouth after her round the world victory is the type that money just can’t buy, and we’re immensely proud of that and her. Her achievements have touched every one of our 38,000 employees.

The Asian tour is the last chapter of the sponsorship story for us in being able to extend Ellen’s reach to our Asian businesses. Following that, we’ll be moving to a new era, although still one of Ellen’s subsidiary sponsor’s as well as supporting her charity, the Ellen MacArthur Trust.

Our main focus for sponsorship going forward will be our support of the British Olympic Team, including another sponsorship innovation, our own team of athletes, working in our stores and training for selection for the Olympics in Beijing in 2008. We want to help them achieve ultimate success,” said David Roth, Marketing Director B&Q.

With the foundations of a new sailing programme in place, Ellen’s team will be reviewing future sponsorship offers to support this new sailing programme: “We anticipate making a decision over the next 2-3 months to have sufficient time for research, design and build of the new boats,” commented MacArthur.

“The B&Q sponsorship has been an incredible effort on both sides that has redefined the benchmarks within our sport. We look forward to working with a new title sponsor and to give them the same award winning service and return we gave to B&Q and Castorama over the past few years,” said Mark Turner, CEO OC Group. “We have unrivalled expertise in our field to win on and off the water, and that passion to win is as strong as ever, with the great team that will benefit from a focussed input from Ellen.”