Transat Jacques Vabre 2003

Un-daunted, Conrad got back out into the corporate world and developed a new programme for Motorola’s employees around winning in turbulent times. In return, Motorola agreed to step up their support and sponsored his entry into the Transat Jacque Vabre, a two-handed race from France to Brazil. Conrad selected Australian speed sailor, Paul Larson as his co-skipper and together they powered to victory crossing the finish line in the Open 50, “Hellomoto” with a record 600 mile lead.
They arrived into Brazil on the day that England beat Australia in the Rugby World Cup which was a bittersweet moment, and Conrad enjoyed the banter as they raced to the prize-giving and the Caparinhas in Bahia.

During the trip, at times, Conrad had 2,000 Motorola employees dialled into a conference line as he entertained them with stories from the ocean.  At the end of the race, the icing on the cake, was an email from the then Chief marketing officer of Motorola, Geoffrey Frost inviting Conrad to Chicago to discuss the future.

Conrad jumped on a plane and headed to Chicago, hardly with any time to wash the salt out of his hair and arrived in Schaunberg for a 30 minute slot with the ex brand boss of Nike. Walking into Geoffrey’s office, he noticed a picture of Hellomoto on the wall, which boded well for the meeting. 25 minutes later and not having even opened his presentation, Conrad shook hands with the Motorola boss and walked out with an agreement to fund a four year programme worth nearly £5 million.