No other yacht race tests crews
and equipment like it. It is
about surfing at 50 knots
through the freezing stretches of the
Southern Ocean, or drifting in the
searing heat of the Doldrums, search
ing for the sail combination that could
be the difference between winning
and losing.
It is a marathon that is raced like a
sprint. For 24 hours a day, every day,
crews push the boats and themselves
to squeeze out that extra knot of boat
speed. The result is that, after
thousands of miles and weeks of
racing, boats often finish within
minutes - even seconds - of each
other.
There are two classes of boat for
the 1995-94 Race; the IOR Maxis,
ocean racing giants that are between
70 and 84 ft long and need around 16
crew to handle them and the
Whitbread 60, a new rule written
especially for the demands of round
the world racing. The W60s are prom
ised to be fast, exciting and, most
importantly for this kind of racing,
safe.
Starting from Southampton on
September 25 1995, the yachts raced
across the equator and through the
Doldrums, to Punta del Este,
Uruguay. The second leg is a slight
ride across the Southern Ocean to
Fremantle, Western Australia;
Auckland, New Zealand is a short
'dash' away before another blast
through the Southern Ocean and
around the revered Cape Horn and
back up to sunny Punta del Este.
From there the boats head up the
coast of South America to Fort
Lauderdale, USA then finally across
the Atlantic avoiding the Azores High,
to Southampton, nine months and
52,000 nautical miles later.
The fourteen yachts taking part in
this epic race are all doing so to gain
the honour of having beaten the
world and win the prestigious
Heineken Trophy for being the fastest
boat around the world in each class.
As each leg is longer than the average
ocean race, Heineken also awards a
trophy for the winners of each leg in
each class. For the other competitors
there is the satisfaction of having
competed in the Greatest Race, and 33
memories and friendships to last a
lifetime.
Heineken is playing a major part
in this round the world marathon. As
global sponsor Heineken has created
Heineken Trophy Villages at all the
ports of call, it have funded the TV
Pool, increasing television coverage
of the race many-fold.
In December in Fremantle
Heineken's involvement in the Race
took on another angle. The only all
woman entry in the race was in dan
ger of pulling out due to lack of
sponsorship funds. Heineken stepped
in to ensure the only all woman boat
would complete the Race.
The move, described as a 'far-
sighted and intelligent intervention',
has provided a great boost to
women's sailing. Dawn Riley, the
skipper, is perhaps the world's best
female sailor and she has moulded
together a close team of enthusiastic
sailors from eight different countries,
including Marleen Cleyndert from
Holland, Marie Claude Kieffer from
France and four Americans.
Jan Reijerinck, Heineken's Global
Sponsorship Manager commented at
the re-christening of the boat: "The
race is the world's premier offshore
event and 'Heineken' will provide us
with a strong focus in all our key
international markets as well as giving
us additional publicity opportunities".
THE WORLD OF HEINEKEN
