Finding the club

That's what Club Perdomo does through its growing string of high-end, private aficionado destinations (private clubs) in Jakarta, Macau, Bangkok and soon in Dubai and other cites across Asia. It is a leading edge brand in the world of high-end, lifestyle products and services, initially offering premium cigars, gourmet coffee and private, member only clubs.

And the Beneteau is all about the leading edge, the winning edge and the zest for life, not to mention well travelled in the circles of the Middle East's elite. And so the partnership was born, appropriately brought together by good friends and good Margheritas. The Beneteau had its sights on a savvy sponsor, and Perdomo had its sights on a future aficionado lifestyle destination in Dubai.

Having raced consistently with the same pool of crew for the past four seasons, with Cam on helm and Will on the main, and always tapping an experienced team of seven DOSC regulars such as Pete, Russell, Mark, Simon, Sam, Marcel, DB, Pat and Danny, the Beneteau is working hard to maintain its position among the fleet leaders.

And not only is this consistent Switchblade crew one of the keys to the Club Perdomo on-the-water success, they also helped in the creation of the branding. "I see a lot of different branding in the international competitions I've competed in," states Cam, proudly.

"And the designs that work the best are those that sailors, the person actually using the boat, had a hand in creating. So, when faced with making a visually stunning makeover for Switchblade, we sat down and used the combined talents of our crew to come up with something unique and memorable.

We wanted something simple and striking, so we came up with the black and gold design on a vinyl transfer, applied by Imageworks, who did a fantastic job. It was a bit of an experiment for all involved, but we are all very happy with it, and the guys that applied it did an outstanding job, especially as the transfer is not a specific marine application.

That was the initial challenge. This year's challenge is to upgrade the competitiveness of the teams resources and, on the branding side, add another of the sponsor's brands, a gourmet coffee named Casa Caffé. Integrating the two, whether on a new boat or the Beneteau, was going to take something brilliant and clever, as it still had to carry the Versace-esque Club Perdomo logo on its black spinnaker and the same sleek crew shirts.

Cam could not be happier with the way the yacht is going. "You have to accept the reality of the competitive side of things," he explained." We love the competitiveness of the First 36.7 class racing, but to compete at a higher level and have a solid chance in taking the silverware, we have to change boats. And the good news is, if the sponsor maintains their current level of enthusiasm, then this could well translate into a new cutting edge designed yacht for the next racing season.

Choosing the right boat will be crucial, as going larger is not necessarily our aim - the bigger the boat, the bigger the horsepower, the larger the expenses, and the harder it is to ensure a regular and consistent crew. So basically we will be looking for a design catering for a seven-crew maximum.

Nice and simple. Not to mention the new design concept of the two logos perfectly incorporated together into one sleek look is an absolute stunner. The sponsor loves it.

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