Mini sailors join the Global Ocean Race

As Conrad Colman and Ryan Finn sign up

The Global Ocean Race 2011-12 have revealed that a team from New Zealand signed up for the race in early February. This will be skippered by New Zealander Conrad Colman (above) who will be joined by co-skipper Ryan Finn from Louisiana, USA.

Colman, 26 comes to the GOR with a variety of experience ranging from business start-ups to sailmaking and shorthanded ocean racing. He completed in the Mini Transat last year and will continue to compete in the class this year, racing against his American GOR co-skipper.

Ryan Finn is also an experienced Mini sailor and will compete in the singlehanded Les Sables-Azores-Les Sables Race in August this year. The 32 year-old American sailor has considerable experience as shore crew for successful shorthanded programmes on both sides of the Atlantic and is - like Colman - one of the few ocean racers who makes his own sails. This is a team that fully appreciates fine tailoring!

Colman and Finn have formed a partnership with Lance Armstrong's global anti-cancer LiveStrong campaign to raise funds and awareness for this exceptional sporting foundation. In 1998, Finn avidly followed the Around Alone race from his hospital bed while he was fighting his own battle with cancer. Lance Armstrong is known for his incredible fight with cancer and his subsequent dominance in cycling and the New Zealand-American duo of Colman and Finn hope that their performance and triumphs at sea during the GOR will help inspire those currently fighting the disease.

The duo have secured part of their budget for the GOR, but are still searching for a title sponsor for their project. “We each hail from a country hosting a stopover and both currently live in France,” says Colman, who is based in Lorient, while his GOR co-skipper is based in La Trinité-sur-Mer. “By being the 'local boys' in Europe, Australasia and America, we will be able to communicate well with a huge part of the GOR audience and are thus a good prospect for a truly global brand."