In keeping with the great tradition of fully crewed races over a number of stages the Europa Race brings together a fleet of about fifteen boats every two years, raced by today's top sailors. It is a unique course, a true voyage and adventure.
Following on from the success of the first edition, the Europa Race wishes to become a durable force and push the boundaries beyond being just a sporting event. The goal: to become a real platform for communication, international cooperation and exchange for the fight against climate change and the promotion of renewable energy.
The ultra-light IMOCA Open 60 boats, of solo round-the-world Vendee Globe race fame, with their huge sail area are capable of speeds of over 30 knots. The high-tech 60í monohulls literally have the wind in their sails, delivering high speed and demanding endurance of their skippers and crew, especially in the most extreme conditions.
- An Extreme Challenge around Europe: 3700 nautical miles and 4 weeks of competition
- A Road Show in 4 European leg cities
- A Tour of Europe on new generation boats which are able to be sailed to their maximum potential with a full complement of crew.
- The best skippers in the world racing on Open 60s
- Renowned sponsors.
- A long-term project, a sporting challenge in the name of ecotechnology on the long view. A powerful and meaningful promotional tool
- The promotion of renewable energy concerns all coastal European countries. The Europa Race is mobilizing to meet them.
- Four weeks of serious competition provide sponsors an exceptional return on investment
- An opportunity for promotion and attracting new targets via public relations campaigns in four large European towns and cities
The class IMOCA
The Europa Race is contested in the IMOCA class, the class association for 60-foot Open monohulls (Open 60' class).
The International Monohull Open Class Association was founded in 1991; it is a member of ISAF (International Sailing Federation) in the offshore racing yacht class and groups together the greatest races, including the VendÈe Globe, the Barcelona World Race, the Route du Rhum as well as the Transat Jacques Vabre.
Founded in 1991 and recognised by ISAF (International Sailing Federation) since 1998, IMOCA World championship includes main sailing races like VendÈe Globe, the Barcelona World Race, the Route du Rhum as well as the Transat Jacques Vabre.
The ultra-light IMOCA Open 60 boats, with their huge sail area are capable of speeds of over 30 knots, literally have the wind in their sails, delivering high speed and demanding endurance of their skippers and crew, especially in the most extreme conditions.
AN AMBITIOUS MEDIA PLAN
The key asset of the Europa Race Media Plan centres on the media boat which will accompany the fleet on each leg, from each start to each finish, and which will deliver original ìliveî material daily. There will be a Press Office in Paris throughout the entire duration of the event, whose pivotal role will be to concentrate all elements for the implementation of the Media Plan, with the assistance of a film editor, a writer and a photographer. This unit will serve the interests of the event, all sponsors and the host ports. All material will be produced in four languages: French, English, Spanish and Turkish.
VIDEO UNIT:
The Europa Race will produce daily broadcast material throughout in VNR format (3 minutes), put together weekly summaries (15 minutes) which will enable the race to be closely followed throughout;
- images from each leg start and the inshore regattas, filmed from a helicopter and on the sea
- images filmed with on-board cameras and sent back from the competing boats
- images filmed from a helicopter at the Media Gates (compulsory passage ëgatesí put in place by the race organisation), when boats pass Sicily, Mallorca or the Strait of Gibraltar and Lisbon.
- images filmed from the media boat throughout the race.
These images will be made available to all European television stations.
PHOTO UNIT:
As above, there will be photos taken on board throughout, as well as the photos taken by the teams on each race boat. They will be used on the official website of the Europa Race, with press releases, and will be stored on a server which will be accessible to all print press (daily newspapers, magazines, websites). We will come to an arrangement with the main press agencies in order to ensure dissemination.
EDITORIAL UNIT:
There will be a writer on board the media boat, who will cover events throughout the crewed race. These articles, which will be written in collaboration with the editor in the Press Office in Paris, will be sent twice a day in the form of a press release to all media (general and specialised). The first one will be sent out in the morning and contain a summary of events during the night, and the second one will be sent out late afternoon based on the dayís audio conferences. They will also be posted on the official website of the Europa Race.
WEBSITE:
This is the core of the plan. The quality of a website depends on its presentation, technical competence and calibre of content. The website will also be the link between the sporting event and the ecological cause it supports. It will be translated into four languages.
OUR OBJECTIVES
More than 150 hours of TV broadcasting with 850 news and covered subjects,
- More than 3000 articles published in the written press in Europe,
- More than 1000 articles on 200 different websites,
- More than 250 subjects covered on radios,
- More than 40 000 000 total pages viewed on www.europarace.com
- More than 200 000 subscribers on the virtual game ´ Virtual Regatta ª
- More than 10 000 posters displayed in order to deck out the 5 leg cities in the colours of the Europa Race