Istanbul Europa Race
An Extreme Challenge around Europe
Under the patronage of European Commission
The Europa Race, in the prestigious IMOCA class, is the latest great sailing race in the yachting calendar. Its long course through Europe is to make it a major sporting event from its very first edition. The route includes Istanbul, Barcelona, Brest, Hambourg and Cowes.
In keeping with the great tradition of fully crewed races over a number of legs, the Europa Race brings together a fleet of about fifteen boats every two years, raced by today’s top sailors. A unique course, a true voyage.
The ultralight boats with huge sail area, of solo round-the-world Vendee Globe race fame, are capable of speeds of over 30 knots. The high-tech 60’ monohulls literally have the wind in their sails, guaranteeing speed and endurance, even in the most extreme conditions.
Following the success of the first edition, the Europa Race wishes to become a lasting force and push the boundaries beyond being just a sports event. The goal: become a real platform for communication, international cooperation and exchange for the fight against climate change and the promotion of renewable energy.
- An Extreme Challenge around Europe : 4100 nautical miles and 5 weeks of competition
- A Road in 5 european leg cities: Istanbul, Barcelona, Brest, Hamburg, Cowes
- 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: Mike Golding, Michel Desjoyeaux, Kito de Pavant, Jean-Pierre Dick, Alex Thomson, Roland Jourdain, Marc Guillemot, Vincent Riou, Armel Le Cleac’h, Alex Pella, Pachi Rivero…
- Renowned sponsors : Gamesa Corporación Tecnológica, Veolia Environnement, Hugo Boss, Foncia, Brit Air, Groupe Bel, Virba, Paprec, Safran, Cheminées Poujoulat…
- A long-term project, a sporting challenge which is in it for the duration in the name of ecotechnology. A powerful and meaningful promotional tool
- The promotion of renewable energy concerns all European countries which border the sea. The Europa Race is marshalling to meet them
- Five weeks of serious competition provide sponsors with an exceptional return on investment
- An opportunity for promotion and attracting new targets via public relations campaigns in each host port in five large European towns and cities
Ecological Perspectives over the next 5 years
Objectives for 2011 Edition: General Awareness Campaign
- A yacht race around Europe to promote ecotechnologies associated with wind power, solar power, hydro power… which serve to lessen the impact on climate change
- Assemble via the Europa Race all stakeholders aware of the need to protect our planet: Europe, politicians, skippers, host cities, team sponsors, academics, scientists, industry, and research and development institutions
- Engage all stakeholders in one common process to create a European ecological forum
- Create an observation unit, with the collaboration of European experts, to assess the current climate situation and the benefits of renewable energy sources, and involve all parties in the process
- Strengthen the Europa Race’s ecological stand, under the aegis of the European Commission, in partnership with European towns and cities (projects, programmes…)
- Creation of an environmental charter signed by all skippers, teams and their sponsors, to promote responsible actions and behaviour during the event, and in the long run, in the design of the boats
- Workshop involving all partners, public announcements of the results of the various studies, and definition of a five year plan of action
Objectives for 2013 edition: Awareness – Research Programmes - Ecological Forum
- The Europa Race: A top level professional, international and media-attractive race, combined with the foundation of a platform for cooperation on a Europe-wide scale, for the research and development and the promotion of renewable energy sources, by emphasising their positive effect on the reduction of polluting energy sources and climate change
Objective: To raise public awareness, in fairly strong terms, about the energy problems affecting the planet
Actions:
-
- Creation of a platform which will assemble political decision makers, scientists, academics, charities, young people, NGOs, and private companies specialising in energy research, in order to delve into the current environmental and ecological situation, and find concrete solutions
-
- Creation of partnerships between boat sponsors and public and private institutions in order to develop projects which make use of eco-technology as well as renewable energy sources, for the design of the boats, while maintaining performance objectives
-
- In every European host port, each party will be able to present and promote their proposals/solutions through conferences, workshops and events open to the general public. The support and contribution of European institutions will highlight the socio-political dimension of these exchanges
-
- Creation of an eco-challenge for the teams, with prize money to enhance the use of clean energy on board the boats during the Europa Race
Objectives for 2015 Edition: Ecological summit around Europe
- Transformation of the ecological workshops into a large scale Ecological Summit, with the presence of European politicians, members of relevant think tanks, NGOs, industry… the ultimate aim of which is to find concrete solutions to the matter of renewable energy sources and climate change
- One prize-money system only for the race, the calculation of which will be directly linked to the ecological behaviour and optimisation of the use of clean energy on board the boats
Partners
See also
References
External links
|
Offshore sailing races
|
|
| Single-handed races |
|
|
| Double-handed races |
|
|
| Crewed races |
|
|