On the 14th October 2003 a £6million sponsorship deal was signed with Qatar Sports International. 

The company belonged to His Excellency Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani (he had not been promoted to Heir Apparent at that point!)

After seven months of excrutiatingly painful negotiations and a final frantic morning of detail changes, the contract was signed 20 minutes before the press conference started at the Waldorf Hotel in London. 

NEW TRACY EDWARDS SPONSORSHIP MAKES SAILING HISTORY

 - £38m programme includes biggest-ever prize money for global racers - Round-the-world yachtswoman Tracy Edwards and the Gulf State of Qatar today announced one of the largest sponsorship partnerships in sailing history, to be known as Maiden Ocean Racing Qatar. As part of a £38m four-year programme that sets new standards for the Formula One of sailing - the Maxi multihull class of yacht – Tracy and her team have created two of the most prestigious international sailing events the world has ever seen.

The programme is designed to advance global ocean racing to include new destinations, attract new audiences and set new challenges in the form of inaugural records. HRH Prince Andrew, The Duke of York, today attended the announcement in London of the ground-breaking partnership between the State of Qatar and Tracy’s company, Maiden Ocean Racing, which was agreed last week (9 October) in the country’s capital city of Doha. “I am delighted to have played a part in bringing together these two parties that I know so well in such a wonderful enterprise that offers so much on a global scale,” said HRH Prince Andrew.   

In January 2005, a new non-stop global race for giant multihulls called The Oryx Cup will start from the UK and end here. The prize for first place in this race will be the biggest cash prize in sailing history – a massive US$1 million. There will also be a special bonus to the skipper in the race who breaks the Jules Verne Trophy record for the fastest time for non-stop circumnavigation.  The Qatar Sports Global Challenge will start from Doha in December 2006 and feature both ocean-going multihull and monohull yachts, over 100 ft and 110 ft respectively. There will be a total of five stop-overs during the Challenge, including locations in the Far East and America to be confirmed next year.  Prize money for both classes will also be announced in 2004. In the build up to the Qatar Sports Global Challenge in November 2006, all participating yachts will take part in the first ever ‘Suez Parade’ from the UK to Qatar, arriving in Doha at the beginning of December. This will coincide with the staging of the 15^th Asian Games, one of the world’s largest sporting events, in Doha  

between 1-15 December 2006. In addition to competing in both the new events, Tracy and her crew will be attempting to improve the Jules Verne record this winter in Maiden II, to be renamed Qatar 2006 and the boat will be refitted and branded in the colours of the title sponsor over the next two months. 

Commenting on the challenges in London today, Tracy described them as the most exciting and challenging of her sailing career, which began in 1989 with her pioneering all-female crew entry into the Whitbread Round the World Race. “These challenges include two of the most spectacular sailing events in the world. I am thrilled and excited about the future and hope that in some small way, this agreement between us and the people of Qatar will raise the profile of both ocean racing and a country I have come to love,” said Tracy. 

Commenting from Qatar, The Crown Prince, HH Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani said: “Qatar is proud to be staging such a series of global challenges on a scale not seen before. We look forward to welcoming the world’s finest ocean racers to our shores and showing the world what Qatar has to offer.”

Once again, Tracy Edwards MBE is setting new standards in the sport. Her new crew is the first ever fully mixed professional ocean racing team, consisting of eight women from her last challenge and eight new male crew members. The crew can claim a total of 22 circumnavigations and broke four world records on Maiden II in 2002 – the round Britain and Ireland record; the Channel record; the Antigua to Newport record; and the prestigious 24-hour record (694 miles) – making it the world’s fastest ocean racing yacht.   

- ends -

HRH Prince Andrew, a friend of Sheikh Tamim had been extremely helpful to Tracy and her team in his role as Ambassador for Business to the UK and very kindly managed a photo session with the team that day.

Qatar Sports International no longer exists.  It was quietly dissolved at the end of 2004 without paying one penny towards the Oryx Quest.