Volvo Ocean Race sees Helly Hansen and Chinese Team Sanya partner up

Helly Hansen partners with Chinese ‘Team Sanya’ sailing team for the 2011/12 Volvo Ocean Race to become team Sanya’s exclusive provider of technical gear and sportswear for the race. 

As the world’s toughest ocean race kicks off in October Helly Hansen has partnered with the Chinese Team Sanya to become the exclusive technical apparel and sportswear provider for the race. This is the 10th time Helly Hansen takes part in The Volvo Ocean Race, which exposes sailors to nine months of brutal weather conditions.

“Helly Hansen finds it tremendously exciting to work with Team Sanya, the first Chinese team to enter the Volvo Ocean Race. Our goal is to give them the confidence they need to compete in this race – by equipping them with the best technical gear, and a team apparel program that reflects their sense of style and allows supporters and partners to feel like they’re part of the team”, says Erik Burbank, Vice President Global Marketing Helly Hansen. He goes on to say “We’re particularly excited about bringing more awareness of the sport of sailing to China, where Helly Hansen’s commercial presence is rapidly growing. It’s a sport we’re passionate about, and it’s exciting to share that with the world’s most dynamic market.

Nine months of harsh weather
During the nine months of the Volvo Ocean Race, which starts in Alicante, Spain end of October 2011 and concludes in Galway, Ireland, during early July 2012, the teams will sail over 39,000 nautical miles of the world’s most treacherous seas via Cape Town, Abu Dhabi, Sanya, Auckland, around Cape Horn to Itajaí, Miami, Lisbon, and Lorient.

The sailors will be exposed to all types of harsh weather conditions, with temperatures varying from -5 to +40 degrees Celsius. They will experience everything from being ice cold, boiling hot and soaking wet. The demands for high-performance, functional technical gear and clothing are, needless to say, extraordinary.

“The Volvo Ocean Race is a pinnacle event with competition at the highest level, and with plenty of adventure and drama thrown in. We see the race as the perfect match with the Helly Hansen way of life, and are confident that our products will provide Team Sanya with a competitive advantage in the race,” said Erik Burbank.

About The Volvo Ocean Race
The Volvo Ocean Race is the world’s premier global race and one of the most demanding team sporting events in the world. The first edition of this adventure came in the wake of two sailors of the last century, Sir Francis Chichester and Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, who drew worldwide acclaim for amazing solo voyages around the planet. Inevitably their success led to talk in international sailing circles of a race around the world for fully crewed yachts.

It became a reality in 1973 with The Whitbread round the World Race. In the very first race three competing sailors were lost after being washed overboard during storms. This led to the inevitable call for the inaugural contest to be the last, but the desire for adventure and competition led to the race being staged every four years. The re-badged Volvo Ocean Race was run for the first time in 2001-02. Today it is viewed as the ‘Everest of sailing’.

Each of the entries has a sailing team of 11 professional crew, and the race requires their utmost skills, physical endurance and competitive spirit as they race day and night for more than 20 days at a time on some of the legs. During the race the crews will experience life at the extreme: no fresh food is taken onboard so they live off freeze dried fare, they will experience temperature variations from -5 to +40 degrees Celsius and will only take one change of clothes. They will trust their lives to the boat, the skipper and the equipment.

About Helly Hansen:

Founded in Moss, Norway, in 1877, Helly Hansen continues to protect and enable professionals making their living on oceans and mountains around the world. Their apparel, developed through a blend of Scandinavian design and insights drawn from living in some of the harshest environments on earth, helps provide the confidence professionals need to step out into the elements and complete their jobs. The company invented the first supple, waterproof fabrics more than 130 years ago, created the first fleece fabrics in the 1960s and introduced the first technical baselayers made with LIFA® Stay Dry Technology in the 1970s. Today, Helly Hansen is the official uniform partner for more than 35 ski resorts and mountain guiding operations. The brand’s outerwear, baselayers, sportswear and footwear for winter, outdoor and water sports are sold in more than 40 countries.