Lymington Homecoming for three Olympic Medallists

 

On Wednesday evening (27^th August) Lymington welcomed its three Olympic Sailing Medallists home.   Gold Medallists Ben Ainslie (Finn) and Pippa Wilson (Yngling), and Silver Medallist Nick Rogers (470) were welcomed by a cheering crowd as they arrived at the Royal Lymington Yacht Club where they are all members, to greet well-wishers and give a few tips to the youngsters training in the river.

 

While there is no shortage of press interest in the success of the British Olympians, it was Marina Johnson of ClearLine Communications who organised and co-ordinated the media presence at the club.  Several local TV stations were present and both South Today and Meridian gave live broadcasts during the day to their local news programmes.  There were also regular news bulletins throughout the day on local radio.

 

Amidst live TV transmissions and clamouring photographers the Olympic stars met dozens of children on the pontoons, who were taking part in the very successful Wednesday Junior Sailing Programme.  They autographed lifejackets and even ventured down the river on the dinghies to demonstrate some of the secrets of their success to the children.  The Olympians then spent half a hour greeting the crowds and signing autographs outside the club.

 

Later the trio were toasted by club members, led by Commodore Geoff Holmes who bestowed  Honorary Life Membership of the Club on Nick and Pippa, along with Adrian Jardine who won Silver in 1968.  Ben had already received that honour following his Gold Medal win in Sydney in 2000.  An honours board was unveiled listing all the club members who have been selected to represent Great Britain at the Olympics over the years.

 

A message of congratulations from the club’s Patron HRH the Princess Royal was read out.

 

The Royal Lymington Yacht Club praised ClearLine’s efforts but for us it’s all part of job and we were pleased to be involved in celebrating such a fantastic achievement.

 

ClearLine at the Farnborough Airshow

The ClearLine team was in action on the opening day of the Farnborough Airshow providing PR support to our client SARBE.  SARBE develops and manufactures personal locator beacons, emergency location transmitters and submarine locator beacons, selling them to armed forces, resue authorities and other professional users around the world.  SARBE is also the sister brand of McMurdo, the leading supplier of PLBs and EPIRBs to the marine sector.  Both are owned by Signature Industries.  With a large number of exhibitors at the show promoting safety gear, navigation electronics, composite materials and more we felt pretty much at home, although the exciting aircraft ’demonstrations’ in the afternoon where a good deal louder than the kind of thing we usually see.  We met a good number of press contacts and delivered the latest news on SARBE’s new products to them, ensuring that we get the best possible publicity across the defence media for our client.

Something for the superyacht market?

ClearLine Communications is appointed by Line 7

We’re very pleased to announce that ClearLine has been appointed by New Zealand-based Line 7 to handle their public relations and marketing in the UK.  The legendary technical clothing company, whose foul weather gear has protected more America’s Cup teams than any other, is re-launching its advanced ranges of protective clothing into the British market.  Line 7’s Ocean, Offshore and Inshore ranges, plus mid-layers and accessories, are aimed squarely at yachtsmen seeking the ultimate standard in design and construction.

Line 7 Ocean Jacket

Marina Johnson, Director of ClearLine, which was established in 1995, comments “We are proud to be signed up by such a leading brand name.  Line 7 has been worn by top-class sailors at events around the world since 1963, and its return to the UK will be a very welcome one”.

 

To find out more about Line 7 and its product range, go to www.line7.com.

High quality canvas prints for sale online

In a slight departure from our regular PR and marketing business, Clearline has collaborated with award winning photographer Erik Russell to produce an on-line collection of high quality photographs mounted onto canvas.  Clearline is acting as the portal for marketing and sales for the pictures, whose subjects range from modern art to stunningly detailed food, quirky and stylish fashion pictures and other subjects – something for every room in the house, whether contemporary or classic.

 

Erik is a staff photographer for Clearline and in his career he has been commissioned to take photographs for UK and international clients all over the world, from superyachts on the Cote d’Azur to supermodels in Manhattan, diamonds in Amsterdam and sunglasses in Tobago. He’s also been known to shoot the occasional cat (with his camera of course!)

 

Clients have included Boden, Elle Magazine, the Sunday Times, Tatler and many more. Each canvas is personally signed and dated before leaving the studio.

 

For further information and to view the range and make a secure and easy purchase on line visit www.clearlinecanvas.co.uk.

 

Humphreys Volvo 70 hits the water

Rob Humphreys next to the Russian VOR70

It’s great to see the Team Russia Volvo 70 afloat and undergoing sea trials.  We visited her with designer Rob Humphreys (pictured above) in the shed at Green Marine in Lymington just before she was launched, and it was quite a sight.  Her spray rails, more familiar to owners of fast motor boats, are already causing a stir, and she will certainly be one to watch when the race gets under way in October.  Rob and his team will once again be at the Monaco Yacht Show in September showcasing their current projects in both sail and power.

Navico press day 16 June 2008

After months of preparation the Navico on-the-water press day finally took place at the Royal Southern Yacht Club in Hamble.  What was originally intended as a UK event had snowballed to include journalists from across Europe, and the Navico top team flew across from Norway to talk about strategy and the future of leisure marine electronics.

We had four major brands to showcase – B&G, Lowrance, Northstar and Simrad – and the guys at Navico UK excelled themselves in marshalling a fleet of demo boats ranging from a TP52 to a Sunseeker Portofino 46 plus a selection of angling boats and RIBs.  This enabled each journalist to have the opportunity to get out on a cross section of craft to press all the buttons and chat to the technical experts manning each nav station.

And did the sun shine?  Well, most of the time.  There was a short, sharp shower at around midday, but ten minutes later the staff at the RSrnYC were firing up the barbeque ready to feed us all, and it stayed clear for the rest of the day.

We also welcomed the participation of partners Suzuki, Marine AV, RIB-X, Musto and Warrior Boats, who all contributed to making it a great day, and a really valuable exercise in allowing writers and editors to experience the products first hand in their natural environment.

McMurdo supports Sir Ranulph Fiennes’ Everest attempt

Clearline’s client McMurdo, one of the world’s leading manufacturers of emergency distress beacons, is sponsoring British explorer Sir Ranulph Fiennes in his attempt to climb Everest. McMurdo has donated a FASTFIND PLUS PLB (Personal Location Beacon) to  Sir Ranulph which he can activate to alert search and rescue services in the case of an emergency.

Sir Ranulph  is making a second climb of Mount Everest three years after he abandoned his attempt just 300 metres from the top when he suffered a heart attack.

 

This time Sir Ranulph, who is listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the world’s greatest living explorer, is re-enforcing his safety preparations by carrying the McMurdo PLB.

 

Sir Ranulph and his team are currently at Camp 2, on their ascent and should reach the summit on Saturday 24^th May.  

If successful the intrepid adventurer will be the first man ever to cross both ice-caps via both poles and reach the top of Everest.  He is accompanied by a doctor, Robert Casserley and expedition guide Kenton Cool, both of whom have climbed the mountain before.

McMurdo has donated the FASTFIND PLUS to Sir Ranulph in recognition of his ambitions, not only to reach the summit despite repeated heart problems, but also to help him in his quest of raising £3 million for the Marie Curie Cancer Trust.

Sir Ranulph will take possession of the FASTFIND PLUS in Katmandu, during his Base Camp trek. The FASTFIND PLUS PLB has a maximum 24 hour operational battery life from activation, operating at temperatures as low as -40°C. 

The FASTFIND PLUS was supplied to Sir Ranulph by McMurdo’s distributor Cosalt Marine International Ltd.

 

Clearline has played an active part in arranging the sponsorship agreement, and promoting the story to the press.

 

Two ClearLine clients make Superyacht Awards shortlist

It’s great to see that both the yacht designers that we represent have made the shortlist in the 2008 World Superyacht Awards.  Rainsford Saunders Design has been nominated for the ‘Best Newcomer of the Year’ award for the refit of the 1930s classic motoryacht R/S Eden (see Boat International August 2007), and Humphreys Yacht Design for their Ermis2 - a 37m high performance motoryacht just launched in NZ – which is on the shortlists both for ‘Best Semi-Displacement or Planing Motoryacht in the 30m to 39m Size Range’ and for the ‘Technology Award’.  Congratulations to both, and we hope to see them on the podium when the final results are announced  at the ceremony being held in Venice in April.

Navico appoints ClearLine

ClearLine has been appointed by Navico Norway AS to provide the company with PR, advertising and general marketing support services across the EMEA region. 

Navico is the largest marine electronics company in the world, with a stable of brands that includes B&G, Eagle, Lowrance, Northstar and Simrad.  ClearLine is delighted to be working with such a prestigious group, and 2008 looks set to be an exciting year with an ambitious programme of new product launches planned.

Earls Court Boat Show – the verdict

It’s funny how your memory plays tricks (writes Matt).  I hadn’t set foot in Earls Court since the end of the last Boat Show to be held there, and the impression that instantly struck me was that I’d forgotten how small it is.  Compared to Excel, let along RAI in Amsterdam, Earls Court is just tiny!  There can be no going back, there just isn’t the space.

Impression number two, at 1130 on the Tuesday morning, was that the place was almost completely deserted.  The guys and girls on the stage did their best to liven the place up with fashion shows, rowing competitions and interviews, but my heart went out to them as they served it all up to groups of sometimes half a dozen or less.  Most of the people that we bumped into in the aisles seemed to be other members of the industry checking things out just like us – so the number of punters must have been pretty minimal.

Interestingly, though, the exhibitors seemed a lot happier than we might have expected.  Customers were few, but had money to spend, was the majority verdict.  This can be a bit of a euphemism for not much going on, but the enthusiasm seemed genuine, so maybe it was shaping up better than first impressions seemed to indicate.

All in all, an interesting day out, and definitely a nostalgia-fest, but a rival for Excel?  No!  That ship, as they say, has sailed.