London, 30 April 2012

Vector International has today announced the launch of British powerboat team Vector Offshore Racing. The team, whose crew is comprised of three experienced English powerboat specialists, will compete in a series of challenging Endurance Racing and World Record attempts over the course of the next two years including the much coveted Cowes to Monte Carlo ‘Venture Cup’ race and a highly anticipated London to St. Petersburg nautical World Speed Record.

Vector Offshore Racing’s crew will be led by multiple-World Record holder Peter Dredge. Veteran racer Peter is the current holder of 15 World Endurance records and has two World and three European Championships to his name. Team co-Founder Mal Crease joins Peter as the second member of the crew. Mal has long held a passion for the sport and worked closely with the Sunseeker XS Racing Team before founding XSMG and Offshore Quest. Tom Montgomery-Swan makes up the permanent three-man crew. Tom was the youngest person to circumnavigate the British Isles in a powerboat, and since then has gone on to take 29 podiums in professional racing, both in circuit and offshore competition.

Vector Offshore Racing will announce its arrival on the world stage when it competes in the highly-prized Cowes - Torquay race in August. This will be followed later in the year by the team’s first World Record attempt, from London to St. Petersburg. This fully UIM-sanctioned attempt will see the crew complete a 2000 nautical mile challenge passing Esbjerg, Copenhagen, Visby and Helsinki along the way. The London to St. Petersburg attempt will break new ground, as no powerboat team has yet made a bid to conquer this route.

An ambitious competition schedule will also see the crew race in the Venture Cup in 2013. At 2400 nautical miles, the Venture Cup, also known as the Cowes to Monte Carlo Grand Prix, is widely regarded as the most prestigious and toughest powerboat race in the world. At 14 days long, the race is likely to provide the sternest test for the team’s experienced crew in its new V40R powerboat, currently under construction at Vector’s factory in Canada.

The Company also continues to develop in the corporate entertainment and hospitality market. Throughout its busy racing calendar the crew will be offering corporate brands and passengers a chance to participate in its exclusive iRace Programme. Vector Offshore Racing is unique in that it is the only powerboat team in the world insured to carry corporate passengers at high speed, where individuals have the opportunity to become a fully certified member of a World Record breaking crew. The team will offer VIP guests the chance to ride ‘shotgun’ with the drivers and become a fully trained crew member during any of its World Record attempts. Throughout the programme, Vector Offshore Racing will also be enlisting the help of high profile ‘celebrity pilots’ who will also be trained to participate in these World Record attempts. The Vector Offshore twitter feed has already achieved an impressive following, with over 2400 joining in its first few hours of operation.

London based Vector International has also today revealed its plans to become a leading vendor of powerboats, with the V40GT currently in build and set to berth on British shores in June alongside the V40R. The V40GT, which was first exhibited at last year’s Miami International Boat Show, is the first in a series of bespoke luxury performance craft to be unveiled by the company over the course of the next 18 months. The new model, which retails for £750,000, is positioned as a ‘must have’ lifestyle accessory for the booming luxury sector in overseas and emerging markets. Vector International is currently developing a highly exclusive dealer network to support global sales of the Vector V40GT when it is launched later this year in territories including The Middle East, China, India and Brazil

Vector International aims to become the most renowned powerboat brand in the world, leading in both competition and corporate entertainment sectors, whilst simultaneously meeting the growing demand for bespoke retail performance craft.

Tom Montgomery-Swan, Global Sales and Marketing Director commented: “After 12 months of hard work behind the scenes, we are delighted to launch Vector Offshore Racing with so many exciting plans already in place for both the 2012 and 2013 seasons. As a team, we have significant experience and pedigree in this sector and I am confident this will help us in our quest to push the boundaries of man and machine, whilst providing strong credibility to support the retail product. We believe that our future achievements on the water will translate into commercial success; once people see what the powerboat ‘lifestyle’ is all about and how accessible it really is, they will want to participate. What we offer through our iRace programme is a completely unique and unprecedented opportunity for corporate guests to actually experience, rather than watch from the side-lines. We have already sold seats in the London to St Petersburg record attempt and that’s only the beginning. Our platform can be transported easily all over the world and we are already in discussion with representatives from Qatar, China, India and even Japan about a number of high profile record attempts along their respective coastlines.”