Humphreys announces Open 60 sponsor

Global telecoms giant stumps up the bucks for two year campaign

31 year old professional skipper Conrad Humphreys and the O6T ocean racing team today announces Motorola Inc, the global leader in wireless, automotive and broadband communications, as their title sponsor. Together, they are forming the Motorola Ocean Racing Team to compete in the international ocean racing circuit for the 2004-5 FICO-Lacoste World Championship title.

Conrad Humphreys, Race Skipper of Hellomoto and Managing Director of O6T said, “Motorola has given us a fantastic platform to compete at the highest level in the IMOCA Open 60 class. I am proud to be an ambassador for Motorola and delighted that we are able to build upon our winning partnership. The 2004/5 programme is a big year for all aspiring solo sailors with both the Transat and the Vendeé Globe ahead of us. I know that the effort taken to get to this stage will be surpassed by the mountain still left to climb as we move closer to the start of an incredible year.”

“Teamwork, execution, speed and competition are all critical success factors in both the competitive world of ocean racing and the business of global communications,” said Ron Garriques, Senior Vice President and General Manager Motorola Personal Communications Sector, EMEA. "More than ever, we see the need to focus on collaborating with our customers in order to overcome the industry's challenges and win. We need joint solutions, which mean working successfully together in ever-stronger business relationships. The Motorola Ocean Racing Programme provides us a global platform to showcase our brand in an exciting environment and allows us the opportunity to link our customers, partners and employees in a challenging series of races and events.”

The Plymouth- based Motorola Ocean Racing Team has acquired the 1998 Finot design Open 60 boat previously raced as Team Group 4 and Ecover under Mike Golding, which is currently undergoing a refit in France. The yacht, with her trademark deck spreaders, swing keel and rotating wing mast, has already completed a circumnavigation and held podium positions in every transatlantic race. She will be named Hellomoto and re-launched in the spring of this year.

The 2004-05 FICO-Lacoste World Championship will kick off with The Transat, the singlehanded transatlantic race formerly known as the OSTAR, which starts from Plymouth on 31 May 2004, crossing the North Atlantic to arrive in Boston, USA some 14 days later. But the main event is the solo, non-stop round-the-world Vendée Globe yacht race starting from Les Sables d’Olonne in the Vendée region of Western France on 7 November 2004. The 2005 programme includes the fully-crewed Calais Round Britain Race, the Rolex Fastnet and two-handed Transat Jacques Vabre race. Conrad Humphreys will be representing Britain amongst a field of top international skippers with the overall goal to win the FICO-Lacoste World Championship.

The Motorola Ocean Racing Team is now actively looking for additional partners and sponsors to join the quest for maximum brand exposure, an exciting and effective marketing platform and ultimate success in competitive ocean racing for 2004 and 2005.
In 2001 Conrad Humphreys triumphed as the winning skipper of the BT Global Challenge round-the-world yacht race. Conrad has been heralded as ‘a true British winner’ by actor and O6T patron, Jeremy Irons, for displaying the qualities not only of a talented skipper but also of an inspirational leader. Two years ago Conrad established his own management company, O6T, which delivers a range of major PR, relationship building and team & leadership development opportunities to business. In 2003, Motorola backed his own project to race the Open 50 Hellomoto to class victory in the two-handed Transat Jacques Vabre race from France to Brazil.