IWC to sponsor Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing team at Volvo Ocean Race 2014-15

Abu Dhabi: Swiss manufacturer IWC Schaffhausen has signed a new deal as the Volvo Ocean Race's Official Timekeeper for 2014-2015 with the Abu Dhabi Tourism and Culture Authority (TCA Abu Dhabi), and will once again sponsor the prestigious IWC Schaffhausen 24-hour Speed Record Challenge. The announcement was made at the Galleria at Sowwah Square on Al Maryah Island, Abu Dhabi. Faisal Al Sheikh, Director Events Bureau at TCA Abu Dhabi, the owner of Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing team, noted that the agency and IWC share values such as preservation of heritage and deep-rooted traditions, commitment to quality and excellence and the insistence on winning. The 12th edition of the Volvo Ocean Race begins in Alicante, Spain on 4 October 2014 and will finish in Gothenburg, Sweden on 27 June 2015. The full route will take the teams 39,379 nautical miles around the planet in sport's ultimate test of character. As in the last edition, IWC Schaffhausen will not only act as the Official Timekeeper but also as sponsor of the prestigious IWC Schaffhausen 24-hour Speed Record Challenge. This prize goes to the team that covers the greatest distance in any period of 24 hours during each stage of the race. At the end of the race, the Swiss watch manufacturer will reward every member of the crew that sets the fastest 24-hour speed record over the course of the entire race with a watch. In the 2011-12 race, IWC presented each member of the CAMPER with Emirates Team New Zealand crew with the Portuguese Yacht Club Chronograph Edition "Volvo Ocean Race 2011-2012" after the team covered 566 nautical miles in a 24-hour period on the leg between Lisbon and Lorient. IWC also announced on Tuesday it is renewing its partnership with the Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing team who will once again be skippered by Britain's double Olympic medallist Ian Walker. IWC CEO Georges Kern stresses the benefits of the partnership with the team. – Emirates News Agency, WAM