The banker's draft plan

We get the low down on the Volvo Ocean Race's new ABN AMRO-backed two boat campaign

A recent tradition with the Volvo Ocean Race is that has that it always has one two boat team. In 2001-2 we had Grant Dalton and Lisa MacDonald leading male and female teams in the Nautor-backed Amer Sport boats while four years before that the EF team used the same boy-girl format with Paul Cayard's EF Language and Christine Guillou's EF Education.

Since then there has been a signficant rule change for the Volvo Ocean Race when it comes to two boat teams. In the 2001-2 event both Assa Abloy and djuice built two boats but only entered one in the race itself. In the name of cost cutting the organisers felt that this America's Cup-style two boat testing was an expensive and non-essential luxury to be avoided in the future, so for the next year's race if a team builds two boats then they must race two boats around the world. Thus today's announcement that ABN AMRO are to back a two boat campaign means that both boats will be on the start line come 12 November 2005.

The prospect of the Dutch bank entering the Volvo Ocean Race has been bubbling since two races ago when they were a co-sponsor of the Dutch entry Brunel Sunergy. Although not highly rated, the Dutch boat pulled off a surprise win on the second Southern Ocean leg from New Zealand. At the helm was one of the Netherland's leading skippers, former Finn bronze medallist, Roy Heiner, who is involved with the latest Volvo Ocean Race campaign his country is fielding in the role - initially at least - as a consultant.

While it is tempting to imagine Heiner being the catalyst for bringing the Dutch bank into the next Volvo Ocean Race, this was not the case. The case for backing a Volvo Ocean Race entry was put to ABN AMRO by sports marketing giants IMG. No doubt the bank's past involvement helped, but they saw the round the world yacht race as being an ideal vehicle for their current corporate branding strategy.

The aims of ABN AMRO's sponsorship is very similar to that of Assa Abloy in the last race. Over the last decade the bank have expanded their interests globally and the last year has seen them slowly pulling all their new subsiduaries under the 'shield' - the ABN AMRO company logo. With the rebranding exercise in place, ABN AMRO now want to use the Volvo Ocean Race to enforce this message.

Conveniently in addition to banks in Germany and France, ABN AMRO's recent acquisitions include Banco Real in Brazil, LaSalle Bank and Standard Federal Bank in the US, Scandinavian bank Alfred Berg and the London-based stockbrokers Hoare Govett - all based in countries visited by the Volvo Ocean Race. They also have offices in Spain, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand.

"We have been researching through professional organisations like IMG what would be the best to make the brand more alive, get people keep together and feel 100% ABN AMRO and at the same time show something of the character that we would like to show to the people," Jan Berent Heukensfeldt Jansen ABN AMRO representative and head of insurance in the Netherlands told thedailysail. "The Volvo Ocean Race appeared to be a very good match: it is a top sport, it is a team sport, flexibility, innovation, all we want to perceive in a great international company and things came together: the knowledge we have gained with Roy, the experience in the past and the way to make it a great team."

Berent adds that they see their participation in the Volvo Ocean Race as a business and have set up a separate company to run their campaign. They are aware that to get the most coverage from the race you have to win and winning is very much a message they wish to convey to their employees and clients worldwide.

At present very few people are on board the project. Aside from Heiner, the innovative Argentian designer Juan Kouyoumdjian has been signed up, along with builder Killian Bushe. Hall Spars will be in charge of masts while Henrik Søderlund of North Sails Denmark will handle the sail development (North Denmark performed a similar job for Assa Abloy in the last race). Heiner stresses that this group as well as the sailors will have input in the design - it will be team approach.

So why was Farr Yacht Design not chosen? "I think we have a new situation at the moment in that it is a white piece of paper where no one design group that has all the experience," explains Heiner. "In the past it was a no brainer to go to the Farr Yacht Design office because they have all the experience. This time what is very important is the development process." He adds that it was essential that the designer had America's Cup experience. Kouyoumdjian was with Prada during the last Cup.

While two boats are to be built, they will not be sisterships. "It would be nice to sail the race with a second generation boat. If you have the time available and the finance, instead of building two boats at the same time, it would be nice to build one boat, learn from the experience and then build the second boat " - a perfect scenario considering that the new Volvo Ocean 70 is an unknown quantity.

However the big problem is lack of time. Assuming that it takes eight months to build a new Volvo Ocean 60 and that the first boat will be launched sometime towards the end of this year, Heiner reckons they can shoehorn in two months of intensive development and study of the first boat once it is launched before embarking on the build of the second - a similar approach to that of Ross Field and David Glen with their ultimately successful Yamaha campaign in 1993/4 at the advent of the Whitbread 60 rule. The second boat he hopes will be launched in the summer of 2005.

Heiner stresses that unlike previous two boat campaigns in the Volvo Ocean Race there will not be a heavily funded 'A' boat and a 'B' boat that goes around on a shoestring as an also-ran. While the second boat is building the first one will be modified to bring it up to the same speed as the second. Both boats will equally share resources. "After the second team has been chosen, they will be one team as far as sails, mast and equipment and finance is concerned."

Whether or not one boat is a women's boat or a youth boat or some other form of alternative entry remains to be seen and Heiner says it has not been decided. "The goal of the second boat is still being talked about. There are a few very interesting options and we need to take the time to take the correct decisions."

Equally they have not decided on the flag of the boats, as they are keen to maintain the international element of their campaign. The boats are likely to be built in Holland, although the location has still to be found. Heiner says they will not be looking to acquire a boat such as a canting keel Open 60 to train on prior to the launch of the first boat.

One of the first jobs will be to find the skippers. Heiner says that he will not skipper either of the boats. The whole crew will have been selected by the time the first boat is launched and Heiner says the job of picking the team will offer fresh challenges this time round. Aside from having those with good offshore experience it will be important to get sailors who are well versed in short course racing for the in-port competition. Thus we are likely to see even more Olympians taking to the boats. Under race rules those who sail on board for the in port racing must do the leg preceeding or following it.

The announcement is fantastic news for the Volvo Ocean Race. With dramatic changes in the race with a new marginally larger considerably faster boat, a new course, in port racing and a host of other changes there have been fears in certain circles that VOR management's plans had been too ambitious. ABN AMRO decision to take part made indepently and without a skipper clinging on to the chairman's ankles, could not be a better endorsement.

"It really helps us to build momentum and enthusiasm," Volvo Ocean Race CEO Glenn Bourke told thedailysail. "With a company of the prestige and global authority of ABN AMRO, it sends out a very positive message to other corporations who are looking at it and are preparing to take the leap but just awaiting for an announcement of this nature to further reinforce it with them. So it is an important step for us and great to be moving in the right direction."

Bourke won't be drawn on how many boats he expects to see on the start line next year. With Pedro Campos' Telefonica campaign from Spain and the two ABN AMRO boats, the tally now stands at three. "They have been working on the design since September, yet they don’t announce it until March," Bourke cites today's announcement as an example. "There are a lot of groups like that. Unfortunately for me, most of those are confidential, but there are at least six that are moving down the track very nicely and there are 32 preliminary entries and quite often you find that there are wild cards out of that 32 that almost jump out of the ether. I’d say that all the signs are really positive.

"So I wouldn’t predict the number of boats," he continues. "I think it will be more than the last race. When we get to the point of 10 or 12 we have to ask ourselves some serious questions such as do the ports have the logistics and infrastructure to accommodate that many boats. And is there is an advantage on the media side? Exclusively is something which also works in our favour - to a degree. Once we have that momentum and that mass going then it is a matter of working out where the top end of that is.That would be a nice problem to have to deal with at the end of the year."

The organisers have been keen to take the race to where the teams come from and Bourke confirms that one of the ports they have been looking at is Amsterdam, although they really want a Baltic port and a VOR delegation has visited St Petersberg in Russia as well as Copenhagen. "They are all in the mix at the moment. We haven’t made the decision because we still have those controversial conversations to have with local government about what they can provide to give us the right kind of feel and venue."

One wonders who will end up skippering the boats - perhaps they will take on one of the existing campaigns based in one of their key markets who have yet to find a willing sponsor.