Frenchman Francois Gabart on his trimaran Macif on his arrival at Brest, on December 17, 2017, while it has crushed the record for the Round the world single handed sailing (Photo by Damien MEYER. AFP)
Spotted in 2009 by the sector to young talents of the offshore race of the Macif, François Gabart, who has sprayed Sunday, the record for solo round the world race, the heyday of the French insurance group has become his sponsor.
The Macif does not hesitate to invest 5 million euros in the project record of Gabart. A sum which includes “the construction of the boat and its depreciation and amortization knowing that you resell it and that even if there is a cost high enough, it sells very well”, stressed to AFP Jean-Marc Raby, director general since 2012, and it fascinated from childhood by the sail.
“One hand goes for all that allows you to operate the boat, team and logistics, and finally another part is for everything that is communication around the boat.”
Macif, which has more than 9,000 employees, has a turnover of 6.3 billion euros in 2016.
The contracts of sports partnerships with François Gabart are reviewed every 5 years. “The current cycle will end in 2019 with the first race around the world of Ultim but we anticipate. In the coming months, we will be led to reflect on the future,” explains the director general.
With Gabart and his aura, the folder sailing has never been questioned. The success of Gabart on the Vendee Globe in 2013 has had a very strong impact.
According to the Macif, there were nearly 40,000 benefits media since 2011, about 60% of the press coverage of the Group generated by the sponsorship. In 2012, the year of the start of the Vendée Globe, this rose to 80%.
The Vendée Globe just in his pocket, Gabart was then proposed to Macif to follow him in his new project: switch to multihulls and for this, the construction of a maxi-trimaran from the category very elitist of Ultim. The boat was put to water in the summer of 2015.
Three months later, Gabart wins the Transat Jacques Vabre, and then in 2016 the English Transat and last July The Bridge before detonating the lap record of the world.
“This is a success story, this boat has already won 3 races”, is happy with Raby.
