Company85 sponsors circumnavigation record attempt
Company85 Global Challenge will feature purpose-built, wave-piercing powerboat ‘Accomplish More’
- 90 ft length
– Top speed nearly 50 knots
Company85 has become title sponsor of a British powerboat team that aims to complete the fastest ever surface circumnavigation of the globe, later this year. The Company85 Global Challenge intends to capture the world record – currently held by New Zealander Pete Bethune at 61 days – by completing the 24,000 mile voyage in under 50 days.
The Company85 Global Challenge is led by British ocean adventurer Alan Priddy, previous winner of 37 world boating records. His boat – named Accomplish More – is being built in Britain to his specification, and will have a special wave-piercing design that will allow it to ‘submarine’ through waves. Accomplish More will begin sea trials this spring, ahead of the record attempt in late Autumn 2012. Priddy’s crew includes powerboat champion Shelley Jory-Leigh and six other highly-experienced individuals, as well as a ‘Formula One’-style pit crew which will refuel and replenish Accomplish More en route.
Company85 – which specialises in cyber security, data storage and IT transformation – believes the project’s bold and visionary spirit is a good fit with its own ethos. Several other key sponsors are also lined up for the project, and there are a limited number of additional sponsorship opportunities available for companies that want to take advantage of the global media coverage the project is expected to generate.
Adrian Spink, CEO of Company85, said: “We believe that in these difficult and turbulent economic times it is important to demonstrate how agility, tenacity and creativity can create British winners. Accomplish More is our company’s rallying cry, and the phrase has a natural synergy with the aims and aspirations of the project. The word ‘accomplish’ stands for completion, results and success – and that’s what we’re backing Alan and the team to achieve.”
Alan Priddy, project leader, said: “In a year that will see the Queen’s diamond jubilee and London Olympics, we aim to bring back yet another prize for Britain. We’re delighted to have formed this association with such a positive and forward-looking firm as Company85.”
To take the record, Accomplish More must pass through the Suez and Panama Canals, and that the journey must start and finish in the same place. The team has chosen the British territory of Gibraltar as the start/finish, and the proposed route will be made up of five 4,800 mile legs, with fuel and provisioning stops anticipated in Panama, Honolulu, Guam, Singapore and Suez.
Accomplish More is a revolutionary new boat. Built entirely to Lloyds specifications, the design is 90’ long, 16’ wide, has an estimated top speed of nearly 50 knots and a range of 5,000 nautical miles. Her twin engine, jet-drive design breaks new boundaries, with the hull shape created from a frame to which aluminium plates have been shaped – minimising the build time, cutting down on welding and creating an incredibly strong and elegant design.
More information
www.Company85GlobalChallenge.com
Company85 Global Challenge team members and sponsors, London Boat Show, 6 January 2012. Company85 CEO Adrian Spink on left, challenge leader Alan Priddy standing fourth from left.
Accomplish More: The Company85 Global Challenge boat which intends to capture the world record.