For the past couple of weekends I have been working with Bruce Schwab on
his wood, foam and fiberglass Open 60, Ocean Planet. It's an interesting
boat with two layers of fin birch laid over the mold, an inch of foam
and then glass, with carbon fiber scattered throughout. A Tom Wylie
design, built at Schooner Creek Boatworks, the mast is unstayed.

Bruce has been pushing hard for more than three years in preparation for
the upcoming Vendee Globe, a non stop, single handed round the world
race, starting on November 7, 2004.

The boat has been built, upgraded and maintained almost entirely with
individual donations. Money by some, and labor by others (like me .
While he has had some supplier sponsors, like Maas Epoxy, Nobletec
software, and Doyle sails, and many others, he has not been able to hook
up with a major sponsor. He finished the Around Alone, while not knowing
if he would have enough money at each stop to provision for the next leg
of the race.

It would seem to me that an American company would be interested in
supporting the drive to be the first American to officially finish the
Vendee Globe. A producer for KCSM-TV, the local education channel in the
San Francisco Bay Area, where Bruce is from, and who wants to do a
documentary on the race, has said, " "The Vendée is unlike any other
race -- in any sport --- anywhere in the world. Only a fraction of the
skippers entered will complete the three-month journey. The physical,
emotional, and psychological strength needed to survive the months of
solitude against nature's toughest ocean waters are demanding and
deadly. Disaster isn't just a possibility - it is a daily occurrence. It
is so dangerous, expensive, and difficult that more people reached the
summit of Mount Everest last year, than have ever finished the Vendée Globe.


These links www.oceanplanet.org and www.bruceschwab.com
will take you to the original Ocean Planet website, and to the newer
site, engineered by the marketing guys at everyocean.com. Also, Sailing
Anarchy , www.sailinganarchy.com has archived all posts, from the
start of the trip to Newport, RI from California to the end of the
Around Alone.

I've seen a lot of really bright people on this forum over the years,
with a lot of insight into different aspect of the sailing world, and I
am hoping a dialogue might develop as to why American corporations, in
general, so far, are not interested. Also, if anyone might have ideas,
or relationships with any large companies who might be interested.

I thank anyone who reads this through and responds, and apologize if it
crosses any boundaries. A lot of us dream about circumnavigation, this
guy is out and doing it, indeed, practically commuting that way.

Thanks,

Jonathan