Contracts involving many boats
The figures are tempting for boat builders and other equipment manufacturers. 91 boats for the Olympic Games, 42 RIBs for the Vendée Globe... The same number of outboards for engine manufacturers. Theoretically, this is a great visibility and an undeniable communication tool. Each one can claim to have been chosen for its robustness and reliability, and the rows of boats and banners on the pontoons are impressive.
An interest in reselling RIBs
But given the cost of such operations, what about the economic interest? The increasingly tightly-controlled communication of major events, especially those of international scope, with their long lists of partners, limits visibility to a few discreet logos. If the weather doesn't cooperate, the RIBs risk being left behind, as was the case at the start of the Transat Jacques Vabre, during which, apart from a few Targa launches more suited to bad weather, the technical partners were absent from the TV screens.
But is this the desired effect? The sale of limited series brings additional commercial interest. A communications operation first and foremost, ocean racing partnerships are not without profitability, as shown by the appetite of shipyards such as Highfield Boats and the return of Zodiac.
