The Cruising Yacht Club of Australia will announce on March 19, that Rolex, the Swiss watch maker, will be the naming-rights sponsor for the Sydney to Hobart yacht race for the next three years.

The deal is believed to be worth over A$2 million, with Rolex understood to be putting in A$750,000 per year for the next three years.

The 630 nautical mile race from Sydney to Hobart, which traditionally starts December 26 each year, has been run every year since 1945, and has been sponsored for the past 25 years, until the most recent race in December 2001.

This new involvement with blue water yacht racing, will complement Rolex’s sponsorship of England’s Fastnet Race, which they signed up last year, becoming the first ever naming rights sponsor of the Royal Ocean Racing Club’s famous race. Rolex has so far committed to three Fastnet Races, which are run biennially, from Cowes on the Isle of Wight around the Fastnet Rock off the south west coast of Ireland, and finishing in Plymouth, south west England.

Rolex has a long tradition of involvement in sailing, including sponsorships in the United States and Europe, most notably having been associated with Finland’s Nautor Swan yachts for some years.

Australia’s biggers telecommunications company, Telstra, ended a six year sponsorship after the 2000 race, and are believed to have put in about A$1 million per year in cash and services.