Boat entry costs slashed by half, confirms PwC report<\/p>\n
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Amory Ross\/Team Alvimedica\/Volvo Ocean Race<\/p>\n
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Stefan Coppers \/ Team Brunel \/ Volvo Ocean Race<\/p>\n
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Anna-Lena Elled \/ Team SCA \/ Volvo Ocean Race<\/p>\n
At a time when rival major global sports events are struggling to contain spiralling costs, a report by independent auditors PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) has praised sailing\u2019s premier round-the-world event, the Volvo Ocean Race, for halving the price of competing for sponsors (full story below).<\/p>\n
– Sponsors\u2019 costs drop by half to enter<\/p>\n
– Improved reliability and efficiency highlighted<\/p>\n
– Ninety per cent of maintenance \u2018proactive rather than reactive\u2019<\/p>\n
ALICANTE, Spain, February 4 \u2013 At a time when rival major global sports events are struggling to contain spiralling costs, a report by independent auditors PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) has praised sailing\u2019s premier round-the-world event, the Volvo Ocean Race, for halving the price of competing for sponsors.<\/p>\n
Much of the credit for this has been ascribed by report author, Manuel D\u00edaz, to The Boatyard, the shared-maintenance facility introduced by the race for the last edition in 2014-15.<\/p>\n
“A campaign now costs around 50 per cent less to run \u2013 in the last editions, the cost was between \u20ac20-35 million rather than \u20ac10-15 million for campaigns at the same level,” the report, Assessment of the Maintenance Operating Model, says.<\/p>\n
The Boatyard has broken new ground in the offshore racing industry, pooling both human and equipment resources for the servicing of a newly-introduced class of boat. The Farr-designed Volvo Ocean 65 one-design broke with 40 years of tradition in an event, which was launched in 1973 as the Whitbread Round the World Race.<\/p>\n
The report, which was commissioned by the race after the finish of the 12th edition in June last year, highlighted: “The list of benefits is no longer hypothetical: the model has already been implemented, showing an excellent performance and outstanding results.”<\/p>\n
The report, in particular, praises:<\/p>\n
\u2022 Significant cost reduction in contracts with suppliers, spare parts stock, transportation, labour and support staff and infrastructure<\/p>\n
\u2022 A reduction of breakages and the consequent corrective maintenance<\/p>\n
\u2022 Improved predictive maintenance, fixing potential weaknesses before they result in breakdowns<\/p>\n
It added: “One of the main benefits of The Boatyard is that it has become easier to attract both participants and sponsors \u2013 the entry barrier is lower but is not only a matter of cost.<\/p>\n
“As all the teams have the exact same platform, the risk of having a much slower boat is lower. On the other hand, safety has been at the heart of the one-design process, with the boats designed to last at least two editions of the toughest race on earth.”<\/p>\n
D\u00edaz recommends that The Boatyard could be even more effective with a stepped-up level of performance monitoring through a list of key indicators such as average time for repair, man power utilisation and efficiency and inventory turnover.<\/p>\n
Nick Bice, who manages The Boatyard, was delighted the project had won the positive comments from the PwC report.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat pleases me is that it\u2019s recognised now that our standards are in line with the very highest in the automotive and aeronautical industries,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cA key statistic that has been highlighted is that 90 per cent-plus of our servicing was proactive, in other words fixing potential problems before they led to breakdowns. Only around 10 per cent of that work was reactive.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur ambition is now simple: we are aiming to get to a stage where there is no excuse for breakages in the next race other than those caused by human error.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t want future stories to be about why a boat has broken down, we want the stories to be about the people sailing onboard.\u201d<\/p>\n
via Boat entry costs slashed by half, confirms PwC report| Volvo Ocean Race<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Boat entry costs slashed by half, confirms PwC report Download Amory Ross\/Team Alvimedica\/Volvo Ocean Race Download Stefan Coppers \/ Team Brunel \/ Volvo Ocean Race Download Anna-Lena Elled \/ Team SCA \/ Volvo Ocean Race At a time when rival … Continue reading