De Kersauson signs up

News from Tracy Edwards' round the world races

Maiden Ocean Racing Qatar (MORQ) announced today that one of France’s top sailors, Olivier de Kersauson has pledged his full support and participation in Qatar’s two new global race events - The Oryx Cup in 2005 and Quest 2006.

The skipper of Geronimo commented, “we have confirmed our full support and commitment to Tracy Edwards and we are looking forward to participating in her events and offering any support she needs in the build up to the start of The Oryx Cup.”

Following the launch of the two events in October 2003, Edwards is keen to support each of the team owners to secure additional funding and her sponsorship consultants at Sports Impact are currently in discussions with another Middle Eastern country to secure additional sponsorship for the teams.

Tracy Edwards, Managing Director of MORQ commented, “we have received a lot of support from the multihull and monohull team owners and I am especially delighted that my dear friend Olivier de Kersauson has pledged his full support and participation in our events.”

Edwards added, “we will be announcing full details of entries later in the year once all entries have been confirmed.“

Mark Turner, Managing Director of Offshore Challenges commented, “since the Ellen MacArthur Kingfisher Jules Verne campaign, Offshore Challenges Sailing Team has been very motivated to be racing again in the big catamaran, albeit with a new name and a new skipper. The Oryx Cup is an excellent opportunity and we are currently in discussions with a number of partners regarding the funding of an entry in the event.”

Alan Green, newly appointed MORQ Race Director announced the start dates of the two new events earlier this week. The Oryx Cup will start from the Solent on Sunday 23 January 2005 at 11:00. The non-stop round the world race will finish in the Solent and is open to multihulls of LOA 100 feet and greater and monohulls of 90 feet and greater. The prize for first place will be a massive US $1 million, the biggest cash prize in sailing history.

The Quest 2006 will start from Doha, Qatar on 20 December 2006 and will race round the world in several stages (stopovers will be announced by late summer 2004) to finish in Qatar. A feeder race from the Solent via the Cape of Good Hope will be organised to start in October or November 2006.

Edwards’ plans for both events to be repeated on a four-year cycle and further events are planned to take place for boats greater than multihull LOA 100 feet and monohull greater than 90 feet.