The Official
Website of the
International
Sailing Federation

"Our friends on Cheyenne displayed true seamanship in overcoming the inevitable obstacles on their voyage, we are thrilled for them after such a tremendous effort," Lewis said.

Lewis and Rosenfeld said their 110-foot catamaran Team Adventure will race again around the world, competing in the Qatar-sponsored Oryx Cup starting in Doha in March 2005. The details were announced yesterday by Tracy Edwards.

The non-stop round-the-world race will start in Doha, Qatar in March 2005. It will finish at the same location approximately two months later. The Oryx Cup is open to multihulls of 100 feet and longer. The prize for first place is a massive US $1 million, the biggest cash prize in sailing history.

Lewis and Rosenfeld also revealed their plans to sell sponsorship for their round-the-world bid on the eBay online auction web site. The seven-day online auction starts Tuesday, April 6 at 4:30pm London daylight (8:30am Ebay) time, and can be found at
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2471999516
The opening bid is $1.0 million and the buy-it-now price is $9 million. A reserve price has been set at $7.5 million for the exclusive title sponsorship, but bids for less than the reserve may potentially be included as supporting sponsors. Or, to find the listing, go to www.ebaymotors.com and search for "TeamAdventure".

Team Adventure, which sailed to third place in The Race of the Millennium in the winter of 2001, has remained in storage in Portsmouth, RI, since the big cat was damaged when it hit an unidentified submerged object in mid-ocean while making a transatlantic record attempt in August 2001.

"We have much to do before Team Adventure can race again but we are confident we will be on the starting line," Lewis said today. "The race starts in one year. Repairs and improvements will take six months. We will spend the remaining time training and preparing for the race. We must also sign a major sponsor or sponsors. We're keen to get on the water again and resume our Team Adventure education programs."

Rosenfeld said that the auction on eBay is a dramatic and effective way to signal the Team Adventure Foundation's sponsorship opportunity to the world's sports marketing community.

"Tracy EDWARDS has written a new chapter in sailing sponsorship with her Qatar backed sailing team on our sistership and two new and exciting around the world sailing races," Rosenfeld said. "The Oryx Cup in 2005 will be a dynamic race, one very much needed to maintain the continuing development of the fastest and most exciting ocean racing boats, the big multihulls. Qatar's second event, The Quest in 2006/2007 will be even more exciting, with a whole new generation of big fast boats racing in sprint legs to ports such as Doha, Bombay, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Sydney, New York and others."

In addition to the sponsorship search, Team Adventure continues to pursue legal action in Europe against a major international insurance company to satisfy its claim for damages arising from the accident in 2001.

Lewis said his team has been in extensive discussions with the Gilles Ollier Design Team, the boat's designers and with Ollier's boatbuilding company Multiplast, which built Team Adventure. Repairs will include replacement of a major portion of the port bow, and the forward crossbeam and port daggerboard. The complete refit will include a taller mast for improved performance plus additions to the sail wardrobe. A shipyard to complete the work has not yet been decided.