Dear Sirs,
February marks the 50th anniversary of the
prestigious Pineapple Cup Race. Acclaimed by Ted Turner, of Americas Cup fame,
as one of the finest Ocean races in the world, the Pineapple Cup is 811 nautical
miles of gruelling ocean racing finishing in a blaze of glory at race hosts,
Montego Bay
This year sees the entry of some of the world’s finest
racing yachts including the Farr 80 “Beau Gest“ from Hong Kong , the 75 ft
racer “Bella PITA” and representatives from the USA, Netherlands, Canada, South
Africa, Canada and the Bahamas. As you will see there is one notable omission,
no Jamaican entry! Indeed it has been some 16 years since a serious entry was
made representing Jamaica and the hosts Montego Bay Yacht Club.
Pineapple Cup winner, and former Commodore of Mobay Yacht
Club Peter Harper and myself, Andrew McGlone, are determined to set the record straight and mount a
seriously competitive challenge in this coming race.
I have made my 54 ft ocean going yacht “HARK” available at
no cost to enter. We have the basis of a very competent and talented Jamaican
crew and certainly have the will to see this challenge through. Each crew
member is contributing a considerable amount financially towards the cost of
mounting the challenge.
In order to represent Jamaica ,and have a realistic chance
of winning the overall Pineapple Cup Race, we still need to secure funding for
a new suit of sails. These sails represent an improvement in performance of
about 25% over our current configuration and really can be the difference
between winning and losing.
We are
appealing to interests in Jamaica to come aboard and help us RACE FOR JAMAICA
... and WIN!
We offer a unique opportunity to a main sponsor of
guaranteed column inches and TV airtime, exposure to domestic and international
markets in one of the most photogenic sports in the world.
Sponsorship carries with it the chance to use the yacht as
a mobile billboard, before and after the event, offering in excess of 3000 sq
ft of blank canvas. Using the latest techniques both sails and hull can be used
for graphics.
The campaign is going to cost us a minimum of USD $55,000,
the challenges are great, logistics difficult but, with our experienced team,
all achievable. We desperately need assistance in funding a new suit of sails,
accounting for 2/3rds of our budget.
We also seek both financial and practical help in the
following areas (any assistance is sincerely welcome):
·
Transport in both Jamaica and Fort Lauderdale during race
preparations
·
Crew flights , one way to Lauderdale / Miami for the race
start
·
Crew clothing
·
Prep crew accommodation
Hark is currently in Montego Bay and will be available for
corporate and media events before delivery to Miami for the start of the race,
she will also be available in Miami / Lauderdale just prior to the event and of
course back in Jamaica once the event is completed.
We have a photographer and videographer aboard to record
the race and have interest from a number of magazines for articles and images
from the event. Media interest is high, this is a unique opportunity and boats
of the required size and speed don’t present themselves every day. It is
extremely important to us that we have a truly Jamaican entry, with a Jamaican
crew. Both the Jamaican press and tv media are very keen to follow our progress
and we will fulfil any press obligations with gusto.
We have secured the website RACE FOR JAMAICA.COM and will be launching it with all our
race news, preparations and events with
video and news updates in conjunction with a national and international press
launch during the first weeks of December we would love to have you with us by
this time to maximise exposure..
Please come aboard and help us win for Jamaica we are
totally committed to providing a truly corporate and successful challenge that
Jamaica can be proud of.
Detailed spreadsheet with costs breakdown is available on
request.
We are available at any time to discuss the matter further.
Kind regards
Andrew McGlone
Andrew.Mcglone@worldmediafoto.com
817 6028
And
Peter Harper