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- BT Global Challenge is quite fairly described as the world's
toughest yacht race!
- 14 identical 67ft cutter-rigged sloops, distinguishable only
by their sponsor's livery, got a rousing send-off from
Ocean Village, Southampton UK, on Sunday 29 September 1996
- BT has taken the title sponsorship of the
race, with each of the 14 yachts chartered to a sponsor for the period of
the race.
- 14 Yacht Sponsors
Motorola, Rover Group, Toshiba Information Systems, Commercial Union, Nuclear
Electric Ltd, C E Heath plc, Courtaulds plc, The Royal British Legion, Time and
Tide Trust, Group 4 Securitas, Concert, Global Teamwork Consortium, Serco Group
plc, 3Com(UK)
- Approximately 200 companies have paid to become a Business Club Member to the race.
This provides each member with placement of their company logo on the bow of a yacht,
corporate sailing days and networking opportunities.
- Each yacht has a professional
skipper
- but the 13 crew aged between 21-60 come from
all walks of life and from all over the world. Most had little or no sailing experience prior to training
for the BT Global Challenge. But by the start of the race they
had undergone an intensive training programme and will have logged
between 3,000 and 5,000 sea miles!
- Sophisticated ship-to-shore communications
will be via C-Sat and HF
radio.
- A great deal of media interest is expected as the race progresses,
BBC2 producing 6 x 30-minute and 1 x 50 documentary.
- Sponsor of the yacht winning the race on total elapsed time
when all legs have been completed will be awarded the silver
Princess Royal Trophy. It was made by Michael Softley, a silversmith for
20 years, whose design beat 60 entrants in a competition open to
college students and professional silversmiths.
- Technical supervision of the race is under the Royal Ocean
Racing Club.
- The Regatta is Category C under IYRR 18 and Appendix A3
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