Limassol Nautical Club had the vision of a world coastal rowing tour: a multi-day expedition along Cyprus’s southern shoreline, open to rowers from around the world. The club had hosted international coastal rowing events before, with support from the Cyprus Rowing Federation and World Rowing, and a strong sporting reputation. What it needed was a partner to turn the concept into a working operation, with two overlapping groups, daily movements along the coast, and international guests who expected everything to be seamless.
Parallax Experience took on that role and was responsible for everything.
Funding the Tour
We built and ran the sponsorship programme behind the event, structuring Platinum, Gold, Silver and Official Supporter partnerships and putting together the benefits for each: boat logo placements, event flags, branded display areas at the Club’s seaside premises, social media coverage before, during and after the tour, press releases, and a closing cocktail party for sponsors, volunteers and the organising committee.
Moving and Housing an International Group
Rowers arrived from Australia, the United States, Switzerland, France, Germany, Ireland, Denmark, Norway, Austria, Sweden, the Netherlands, Belgium and Zimbabwe. We arranged their stay at the Park Beach Hotel in Limassol, eight nights for each group, and ran the transport that made a point-to-point tour possible.
Every morning, buses carried the groups to that day’s starting beach. At the end of each rowing leg, support vehicles met the crews, so rowers and non-rowers could continue to the afternoon’s cultural stops and the return to the hotel. The two groups overlapped on the changeover day, so the hotel, the transport and the beach events all had to work for two sets of people at once.
What We Delivered
A tour that moves along the coast needs a food plan that moves with it. We built the catering for each stage of the journey:
- A welcome barbecue of traditional Cypriot cuisine on the beach at the Nautical Club on arrival evening
- Lunches at local tavernas, including a meal at Kalymnos Tavern after the Governor’s Beach leg
- Beach picnics at Mazotos fishing centre and at the shelter near the day’s end point
- Group dinners at the hotel
- A farewell and welcome BBQ on the Club’s beach, where Group A said goodbye and Group B joined in
Rowing and safety equipment for every participant was part of the programme. Quad and double coastal boats, their logo placements, safety cover along 20-plus kilometre daily legs, and launch and landing points at each checkpoint were all planned and managed by our team.
Behind the rowers stood a volunteer team and an organising committee, coordinated by Parallax. We briefed, scheduled and dressed them in branded event T-shirts, and positioned them at launch points, checkpoints and finish areas.
RESULTS
- 45 rowers from 13 countries across two groups
- About 140 km of coastline rowed per group across 7 coastal checkpoints
- Backing from the Limassol and Larnaca Municipalities, the Cyprus Rowing Federation, the Cyprus Sports Organisation and World Rowing
- A full sponsorship programme with online and offline visibility for partners
- Complete logistics covering accommodation, transport, meals, equipment, safety and volunteers
