First Choice Holidays PLC, Britain’s third largest tour operator, is to sponsor the prestigious Industry Sailing Challenge for 2000, with an option to continue sponsorship for a further two years.

The 2000 event will be known as The First Choice Holidays Industry Sailing Challenge and will be sailed in Sunsail’s fleet of identical Sunfast 36s. Sunsail was acquired by First Choice Holidays PLC last September. The first of the five heats will take place on 30th and 31st May and the final will be sailed over the weekend of 15th and 16th July.

The Industry Sailing Challenge, which has been running for 14 years and is the largest corporate sailing event in the world, is organised by the Offshore Racing Agency, and consists of 5 challenge heats taking the crews twice round the Isle of Wight after starting from Cowes. About 20 yachts participate in each of the five heats.

Designed to test not only the sailing and navigation skills of the crews taking part, the First Choice Holidays Industry Sailing Challenge is also an exercise in team building and endurance with each heat lasting about 24 hours. The final, where there will be two back to back four hour races in the Solent each scoring 25% of the points total, will be followed immediately by the race round the Isle of Wight to decide the overall winner.

Each of the five heats has a sub sponsor, and this year the companies involved are Best International, Sony Information Technology Group, BAE SYSTEMS, Sony Videoconferencing and Ricardo consulting.

Amongst the 100 companies taking part this year are National Grid, Vodaphone AirTouch, Orange, Ford, Deutche Bank and Microsoft.

The races will all be sailed under the flag of the Royal London Yacht Club at Cowes where the crews will congregate for a prize giving and dinner after each heat.

Commenting on the sponsorship by First Choice Holidays PLC, Clive Jacobs of the Offshore Racing Agency, who organise the event said: –

“I am delighted that First Choice Holidays PLC has decided to be our principal sponsor for 2000. To have the combination of one of Britain’s largest tour operators and the world’s largest sailing holiday company involved in the same event is indeed a great combination and I am sure will raise the profile of the competition even further.

“The First Choice Holidays Industry Sailing Challenge is a tough event and the crews will need endurance, tenacity and skill to win through to the final. Judging by the companies taking part this year it is going to be very tight at the top and the eventual winner will richly deserve their title.”

For more information, please contact: –

Clive Jacobs, Managing Director, The Offshore Racing Agency, Tel.01725 517836

or

Chris Gordon, Managing Director, Sunsail, Tel. 023 9222 2300

or

Christopher Clode Public Relations, Tel. 01243 431343