Audi 2007 Annual Report Download - page 125

participants of the TP52 series of the
Audi MedCup now include keen sailor
King Juan Carlos I of Spain on the “Bri-
bon,” his son Felipe as skipper of the
“CAM” and King Harald V of Norway
on the “Fram.”
The charismatic Juan Carlos I has played
a particularly important role in the me-
teoric rise to fame of the TP52 class.
When Spain’s seafaring head of state
takes to the seas, the Spanish and in-
deed the European sailing scene is keen
to join in. The best America’s Cup skip-
pers have also long felt at home in the
TP52 class. Jochen Schümann, three-
time Olympic champion and two-time
winner of the Cup, is happy to accept
the challenge, as is Whitbread Round
s the America’s Cup has
come to a standstill because
of an ongoing legal battle,
the international sailing
elite has switched to an alternative
arena: The Audi MedCup, where the
world’s best sailors compete in the most
exclusive waters of the Mediterranean,
on TP52 yachts. Last year, Audi was al-
ready a premium sponsor of this attrac-
tive international sailing regatta series.
In 2008, the brand with the four rings is
the title sponsor of the Audi MedCup.
The name TP stands for Transpac, as the
52-foot yachts were built, among other
things, for the classic American regatta
of the same name that traditionally runs
from Los Angeles to Honolulu. Fans and
Pure adrenaline:
When it comes
down to split
seconds on the
high seas,every
movement has
to be perfect.
A