The Art of the Deal
Part 1: Here's what we wanted to do

The days of chartering a big boat to do long distance races are over, courtesy of the friendly insurance companies. After 9/11, the whole insurance industry pulled back from "non-core" underwriting, and offshore racing was one of the casualties. It is very difficult and expensive to get offshore racing insurance at all. No one will insure carbon spars, sails, or rigging. And no one seems to want to insure charters. The insurance companies need to see a clear "insurable interest"; that's insurance lingo for "someone who has something to lose". An owner clearly has an insurable interest.

As a result, people that want to go offshore racing in big boats need to own, at lest in part. Dwight Jefferson is such a guy, and he has joined the TP 52 Flash as part owner to achieve the goal of racing the boat on the upcoming Victoria to Maui race. We thought it would be interesting to have Dwight tell us about the art of his deal concept in three parts: Here's what we wanted to do, Here's what we did (the race), and the final chapter, Here's how we did it (the deal).

On that basis, here is Here's What we wanted to do. - Enjoy

I am a Trustee of the IBM 2004 Victoria to Maui International Yacht Race. As a lifelong racer, and a 14 year member of the Vic Maui Committee in one role or another, I felt it was time to actually enter the race. I had done Transpac in '97 aboard Renegade, and wanted to put together a campaign for this race that was extremely competitive, with a view to line honors and a record.

Step one was to identify a boat that fit our budget and race goals, and the Transpac 52 looked like a great weapon.

Of course, not having a Transpac 52, I knew I had to talk someone into letting me sail theirs...

Step two was a call to Alan Andrews, who said he would call around and see if any of the owners would be interested in putting together a campaign with me.

Mark Jones called me to express interest, so he and I started discussing a campaign. He liked the concept as it would encourage him to dial the boat in for the season. We struck a deal for me to purchase a minority interest in Flash.

Mark was also keen to make sure that Flash has an active race schedule...good for the class.

Step three was to assemble the crew. This corner of the world is home to alot of sailors who can pull their weight anywhere (just ask all the sleds that got dusted by a bunch of unknowns from Vancouver aboard Merlin in Transpac '95 ). I called the boys I grew up sailing with. Over the years we've all got real jobs, but in between some of the boys crossed the Atlantic (TRANSAT TAG), competed in the America's Cup (Canada II), Mallory Cup, Tornado NA's, UK 505 Intercollegiates, Antigua...lots of trophies...we've done our time.

Everyone is looking forward to a fast, wet ride.

We spent some time with Mark and Flash during the Half Moon Bay Race so that everyone got comfortable with the boat and with each other. Turns out half the crews knew each other, or knew sea tales involving each other, or something like that. We're looking forward to a great race. If all goes well, we'll look at doing other campaigns like this in the future.

Co-ownership is the future of shared campaigning. We think we've found a formula that works. By the time we've finished the race we'll know the strengths and weaknesses of our deal...by then we'll be able to write a "how to" for others. Stay tuned for more on how to put together (and pay for) your own program.

Dwight Jefferson