PRESS RELEASE

The first edition of a new and original round the world race concept, the GLOBE40 was starting out as a blank canvas. In the two months since the last competitor finished the race in Lorient, the organisation has had the time to take stock of the event’s success and draw up the necessary media report. The sheer density of the press coverage, images and photos very much lived up to expectations for a debut edition and what is particularly striking is the predominantly international nature of the reporting and how well it illustrates the event’s dual identity as both a competition and an adventure.

A global tally of 2,700 items of press coverage across France (1/3) and internationally (2/3).

The French press represents 1/3 of this press coverage (articles / photos / videos), whether it be in magazines, websites or on the social networks, which equates to nearly 900 items of press coverage. Sailing magazines like Voiles et Voiliers, Course au Large and Voile Magazine, as well as key general media outlets like Ouest-France and Le Telegramme, have shown genuine interest in this original new event, faithfully following the event from leg to leg and stopover to stopover. Meantime, the international media makes up 2/3 of the global press coverage with 1,800 items of coverage. Whether it’s in Europe and the United Kingdom (Yachting World in the UK, Yacht in Germany, Zeilen in Holland and Saily.it in Italy) or the rest of the world, like the US (Sailing World, Scuttlebut Sailing  News, Sailing Anarchy), Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Brazil, Japan or Morocco, the leading media outlets all gave the event significant coverage. Those countries with competitors in the event (11 nationalities in all) or hosting stopovers naturally demonstrated even greater interest in the Globe40, whilst the website audience further illustrates the worldwide recognition. Indeed, of the 1.4-million pages read, 30% of followers were in France as well as 19% in the USA, 17% in Europe (UK / Germany / Holland / Italy) and 5% in Japan. A sizeable press trip to attend the official start in Tangier and the hosting of external journalists at the majority of the stopovers contributed to this extensive press coverage (for example Yachting World, the world’s most popular sailing magazine and Voiles et Voiliers, Europe’s most popular sailing magazine, were both present at the start and finish), plus a total of 454 journalists were accredited to the event.

Video production illustrated the event’s dual identity

Entrusted with the production of images, IMAGE IN FRANCE under Thomas Fournier, created an unrivalled portfolio with nearly fifty 1′ à 3′ programmes, 5 programmes lasting 26′ and a 40′ analysis programme. The editorial concept behind the emissions embraced the event’s dual identity with an equal proportion of dedicated sports items about the race and travel and adventure items at every stopover, each of them focusing on original environmental and societal topics. These ranged from an emission about the life of a lighthouse keeper in Cape Verde to the difficult situation for coral reefs, reforestation efforts in Mauritius and the protection of large marine mammals in French Polynesia, the GLOBE40 serving as a platform for fresh and original content that went above and beyond the simple competition context. This approach generated nearly 5-million views on digital media with some particularly successful segments like the 26′ Tangier episode (515,000 views) retracing the cultural renewal of the major Moroccan city on the dividing line between European and African cultures. Finally, a fabulous and moving 40′ round-up retraced the entire competition and the epic adventure: it was taken up by 40 media outlets worldwide. (link HERE).

 

Photography as an art form – an expression of man and territories.

Jean-Marie Liot, the event’s official photographer, awarded the Prix Mirabaud 2016 (the marine photographers’ ‘Pulitzer’) was able to showcase the true extent of his talent during the stopovers, whether it be as a sporting commentary highlighting the competitors and the maritime spaces traversed along the way, or drawing on his boundless curiosity and talent for capturing a moment in time in the most beautiful land and seascapes and man’s activity within them. Etched on our minds from this experience are fantastic images of the sea as well as the fisherman in the Cape Verde islands – the iconic photo from this edition – using a stone for an anchor. Or perhaps the farmer in his field in Mauritius, crouched down, his face deeply lined by a life of exertion, juxtaposed with the island’s luxury hotels. Or maybe his images of the shipyard in the Indian Ocean, where he captured the vitality and originality of every one of the multiple trades within what was a hive of activity for a thousand workers. Incidentally, the distribution network of our artist-photographer fuelled countless pages, double-page spreads and reports in the world’s leading magazines (full pages and double-page spreads in Voiles et Voiliers, Voile Magazine, 26 photos in December’s YACHT, Germany’s leading sailing magazine…). To revisit all these images, the tough selection of the 20 most epic photos is an absolutemust.(Link HERE ).

You can also visit the photo section of the website: Link HERE

A special mention too for VIRTUAL REGATTA with half a million players

Running a special 2021/ 2022 version of the event to make up for the actual event being postponed for a year due to the health crisis, followed by a synchronised version of the actual 2022/ 2023 version, the 2 virtual GLOBE40s racked up a whopping 570,000 players in all!

Nota: the full media report could be asked to contact@sirius-events.com