Neville Crichton, owner and skipper of 'Alfa Romeo' and the front runner for line honours in the 2005 Rolex Sydney to Hobart race, has secured a substantial sponsorship package to take 'Alfa Romeo' to Europe in 2006 to contest the leading blue water classic events through the coming northern summer.

"Sponsorship of 'Alfa Romeo' will provide an unprecedented means to make contact with premium customers in a unique environment that confirms Alfa Romeo's position as a successful, dynamic and premium brand," says Sergio Cravero, Alfa Romeo's worldwide Marketing Director. "Neville Crichton delivered Alfa Romeo unprecedented media exposure right across Europe with his previous yacht in 2003 and 2004 and provided an ideal platform for the promotion of Alfa Romeo with the emphasis on technology, style and performance. Not to mention the fact that he also took line honours in no less than 72 races. We are in no doubt that his new yacht will repeat both this level of success and exposure for Alfa Romeo," explains Mr Cravero.

Although Neville Crichton's company, Ateco Automotive Pty Ltd, is the Australian and New Zealand importer of Alfa Romeo products, this does not mean that winning the sponsorship deal in Europe to fly Alfa Romeo's name was a foregone conclusion. "The range of sponsorship options available to Alfa Romeo in Europe is phenomenal," says Neville Crichton. "The fact that we are the importer in Australia and New Zealand has, ultimately, no bearing on their decision. We have to prove that we can supply a commercial product that works for every European market in terms of media coverage, product linkage and beneficial imagery. This means we have to be as effective in Athens as in London or Helsinki at delivering Alfa Romeo's marketing message and we have to be cost effective." During 2003 and 2004 the previous Alfa Romeo's sailing success produced media coverage valued in excess of $40,000,000 per annum. In Italy, alone, the yacht was featured in more than 80 hours of national TV coverage and the vast majority of pictures of the yacht in the print media clearly displayed the Alfa Romeo logo.
 

The sheer size of 'Alfa Romeo', her outstanding performance and the charisma of the yacht combined with the highly professional but very friendly crew enabled Alfa Romeo to win the hearts and minds of customers without being intrusive or overly commercial. The Italian car maker built on this exposure with pictures and displays on the yacht throughout its European dealer network and video wall displays at all major European motor shows.

With her canting keel, twin rudders and advanced construction, the new 'Alfa Romeo' is even more capable of supporting Alfa Romeo's high technology image, while a 30 per cent increase in sail area provides even more scope for the Alfa Romeo logo to be placed in front of the public. The 2006 season will see 'Alfa Romeo' contest all the major Mediterranean Blue Water Classic regattas. "Although we have now arranged our main sponsorship for the 2006 season, we still have a range of sponsorship opportunities," explains Neville Crichton. "This programme and the association with Alfa Romeo, plus the comprehensive promotional support they will provide, means that we can deliver a unique level of European exposure to new sponsors looking to join our crew."

If timing permits, 'Alfa Romeo' will then return to Australia to contest the 2006 Rolex Sydney to Hobart. As with the previous yacht, the 2006 season will also see 'Alfa Romeo' and her crew participate in a wide range of media and high profile social events throughout the northern summer. "For a yacht and its crew from the other side of the world to be the spearhead of a major European brand's marketing programme as they launch a range of new models that are vital to its future is a significant achievement," says Neville Crichton. "It clearly demonstrates our ability to deliver not just race wins but also remarkable value for sponsors."