Petrofac supports sailing champion

Petrofac, the international oil & gas facilities service provider has announced a three year sponsorship arrangement with sailor Alex Hovden. Alex, a young disabled sailor from Woking, will use the sponsorship to focus on achieving his dream of representing Great Britain in the 2012 Paralympics.

17-year old Alex was born with cerebral palsy which causes involuntary movements to his right limbs and as a result, he only has full use of his left arm. Having only taken up the sport at the age of 13, Alex has achieved some outstanding successes in the sailing world. In 2008, he was awarded the RYA’s Young Sailor of the Year, and selected as one of four finalists in the National Sailor of the Year competition. This competition is open to all able bodied sailors, which indicates his level of expertise in the sport.

Alex is now progressing into the RYA Development Squad, from which the Paralympic team will be chosen and he has recently won the 2009 Access Liberty UK National Championships.

Mike Cannavina, senior vice president and general manager for Petrofac’s Woking Engineering Services business said: “Alex’s achievements are quite inspirational. He is an exemplary role model and demonstrates the results that hard work and dedication can bring.”

On receiving the sponsorship award from Petrofac, Alex said: “I am extremely grateful to Petrofac for such a generous commitment. It certainly eases the burden on my fundraising and nothing would give me greater pleasure than being able to achieve gold medal success in 2012 and possibly 2016.”

Petrofac’s Chertsey Road (Woking) and Jermyn Street (London) offices will be sponsoring Alex for 50% of his funding requirements over each of the next three years.