Richard Hewson

This Australia day 26th of January 2014 Hewsonracing.com and Richard Hewson are proud to announce AUS 816 Mini Transat Campaign for 2015.  Richard will be sailing the RG650 AUS 816 nicknamed “Taz” after the Tasmanian Devil, the only carnivorous marsupial remaining in Tasmania, more commonly known for its appearance in the Warner Bros luny tunes cartoon Taz!  This campaign will focus on winning the 2015 Mini Transat, but will also involve numerous international races including the famous New Zealand to Australia race the “Trans Tasman”, and races in the Mediterranean and Atlantic in “Taz” where Richard will race against the worlds best solo sailors in some of the toughest races in the world!

Richard Hewson made world headlines last year when he was leading the first stage of the Mini Transat in the Series Class, and was close in the wake of the leading pack of prototypes when the race was cancelled only 40nm from the finish due to storms that were forecasted to decimate the majority of the fleet.  An Australian leading the fleet of Mini’s attracted world wide press and everybody from Australia to Greenland, Caribbean to Africa were talking about his amazing efforts and the robbery of his win.

The 2013 edition of the Mini Transat was indeed a tough one, with only 40 percent of the yachts finishing the race in Guadalupe, 5 boats being lost and skippers rescued, numerous dismastings, and countless amounts of damage.  Sadly the RG650 AUS 816 proudly sponsored by Zhik, pro furl, harken, yacht moving, equip yacht, RG650europe.com, Boatbooks Australia was one of the statistics and was forced to abandon the Mini Transat.

Even while faced with incredibly rough weather, Richard overcame constant setbacks as his desire to firstly win and then finish the race and was so obsessed he was willing to put everything on the line.  Richard was able to repair his keel after it was nearly ripped out of the boat from a passing fishing trawlers illegal long line, only to be back in the water racing again less than 12 hours later to break his rudder and witness first hand one of the most spectacular wipeouts in Mini history after the forces of the 21 foot yacht surfing down waves at over 18 kts became too extreme for the prototype series class.  Not giving up Richard replaced his rudder and continued racing, however the wipeout that occurred during the rudder breakage continued to rear its ugly head and continuous rig problems and the loss of wind instruments from the top of the mast forced Richard into Lanzarote for repairs.  Richard attempted to repair the boat within the allocated 72 hours maximum port stopover, however when he put to sea within the 72 hours to continue repairs and keep racing he realised that the boat was not fit to continue racing across the Atlantic and prudence overcame honour and pride, forcing him back into Lanzarote.

Richards dedication and obsession to win the Mini Transat was noticed by press world wide and numerous articles were published around the world attracting unprecedented and invaluable press.  The lessons learnt in the 2013 edition of the Mini Transat have only made Richard better, smarter and more determined to win the next edition of the Mini Transat.  “The AUS 816 “Taz” is one of the first RG650’s and we have used her as a test bed to improve all the RG650’s in the future.   When I started the 2013 Mini Transat AUS 816 Zhik was in fine form and we had made some awesome modifications to enhance the boats speed and performance.  As we raced in conditions I have never faced in the RG650 I continued to fine tune the boat and record data from the experience, and If I was not forced to abandon the race, or we re-started from Lanzarote as planned I think I would have won the Mini Transat… If I can start my next campaign where I left off in 2013 I have an brilliant chance of winning the 2015 edition of the Mini Transat”.

To race and win the 2015 edition of the Mini Transat Richard needs to raise over 80,000 euro in sponsorship and donations.  Richard has vowed to work flat out to raise as much of this money as possible working in the Offshore industry and as yacht captain and navigator of various racing yachts in his spare time.  “The financial milestone is my biggest challenge, to raise 80,000 euro in twelve months in todays economic climate will be hard, however for anybody who can invest in this campaign they are guaranteed to be well rewarded with publicity around the globe!”

The target of 80,000 euro will come in two stages.  The first stage is the most critical.  Richard needs to raise 40,000 euro in the next three months or his boat AUS 816 “Taz” will be sold.  “It is integral that I find the money to buy “Taz” as I have done all my qualification miles and races in this boat and if it is sold it will be almost impossible to raise the money and still have the time to qualify for the Mini Transat”.

Sponsors of Richard’s campaign will be well rewarded locally and around the globe with corporate sails, dinners and speeches given by Richard about his life threatening situations experienced in the 2013 Mini Transat, as well as his leadership and drive that lead him to win the 2011/12 Clipper Round the World Yacht Race.  Not only will Richard be involved in corporate development and team building, but potential sponsors will receive unprecedented press around the world for the duration of the campaign.  There is also potential for larger sponsorship packages that can involve such things as corporate races on a Volvo 70.

If you are interested in supporting Richard Hewson in his 2015 Mini Transat campaign, if you feel you can help Richard out in any way financially or with other services such as media or promotion or you would like to know more please check out www.hewsonracing.com, email hewsonracing@gmail.com or call Richard personally on +61459467558.   Australia can win the Mini Transat!

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