Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, Chairman of Clipper Ventures PLC, organisers of the VELUX 5 OCEANS, today confirmed an unprecedented investment in skippers who enter the 2010-11 edition of the solo round the world ocean race.

An investment of ?36,000 per skipper, which will be further supported by a total prizefund of ?500,000 as well as supplementary value in kind across all services up to a total investment of ?1.8 million for skippers in the next VELUX 5 OCEANS.

Sir Robin Knox-Johnston commented, “In December, we announced that VELUX and Clipper Ventures would look to actively deliver ?1.8 million of value to skippers who take part in the VELUX 5 OCEANS 2010-11. Having committed ?500,000 to a prizemoney pot to be split across the legs and fleets, we promised to offer support across the key budget areas of accommodation, communications and logistics. We are now pleased to confirm the first stage of that breakdown, with a direct investment of ?36,000 per team during the race. We will continue to deliver further value for skippers to reach our target.”

“As title sponsor, we are happy that the Race Management has undertaken dialogues with skippers to identify the best way to allocate the budget we have made available to support skippers campaigns. We hope that today’s announcement will meet a clearly expressed need from skippers for support and it’s our hope that this investment will encourage some of the most inspirational skippers in the world to participate in the race.” Stated Kent Holm, VELUX Market Communications Manager

Sir Robin concluded, “We are very conscious that the format of our event, spanning eight months, visiting five continents and encompassing five gruelling ocean sprints can introduce supplementary costs, especially during such challenging economic times. Although we know that our event offers un-paralleled media exposure and a unique hospitality platform on the Open 60 racing calendar, VELUX and Clipper Ventures realised that we need to go further in our support of our competitors in order to make the race an attractive proposition for sponsors and skippers alike. Whilst our media budget of ?2.6 million is designed to deliver a significant return on investment, we hope that our direct investment in accommodation, logistics and communications will take the race to new heights and change the mould of ocean racing.”