Two second hand Melges 24's - one from Great Britain, the other from France - have arrived in Cape Town, South Africa, a country where the class is still inexistent. The new boat owners wish to see the class grow in order to create a competition pole around the region.
To promote Melges 24’s, the boat raced at the 2007 Sanlam Around the Isle Race and won the keelboat class. Additionally, as part of the promotional activities, the owners created a program to push young South African sailors who show potential to get to know the boat and have the young sailors sail on them in a near future.
I have not found more information on the specific program directed to the young sailors yet though I am continuing to search.
The company Melges 24 must be very pleased by this new wind of promotion. The fact that these two boat owners would like to create a Melges 24 class around South Africa is great publicity for them. Eventually, other sailors will be tempted to try and buy one of the boats themselves. By getting the two Melges’ on the water during the regatta, and especially winning their class race, was a great way to get the name of product out there and of displaying it. People got to see the product in action.
Also, what appears to me as the smart part of the promotion action is to have young sailors try the boat. In time this will create brand loyalty and create new sales.
Melges24 is already a very popular boat around the world, but South Africa was still untouched. The fact that two independent sailors, not related to the company decided to promote the boat is great publicity, good for the company’s image, and good for their sales. South Africa is a new market for them.
To read the article, please click here (http://www.melges24.com/displayarticles.asp?year=2007&id=1134)
For more information on Melges 24's see the official website. (www.melges24.com)
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