Why a metallic inks company is sponsoring
a very fast boat
Company sponsorships among print-related suppliers were all the rage in the 1980s when brand building stepped up a gear. Inflationary pressures then kicked in and so the bean counters were forced to curb the wilder excesses of many a marketing department. There is something faintly nostalgic therefore about the decision by MetalFX, a UK licenser of metalized print products, to become the official sponsor of Quicksilver, a very fast boat that will attempt the World Water Speed record later this year. The craft was officially unveiled on April 4, the first day of Ipex 2006 at the National Exhibition Centre, Birmingham, and displayed throughout the duration of the 11-day print show. Nigel Macknight, the pilot and full-time writer, promoted his book about the project and signed MetalFX Quicksilver publicity material.
Apparently, the world water speed record has a long and colorful history. Previous holders and challengers have included the inventor Alexander Graham Bell, Lawrence of Arabia, and four previous holders of the world land speed record. Macknight and Quicksilver are Britain’s contenders to win the World Water Speed Record — currently 317.60 mph (511.11 kph) — back from Australia. He will be piloting a three-ton craft with a 25,000 horsepower Rolls-Royce Spey turbofan engine at his back on Coniston Water in England’s Lake District. Incidentally, this is the same stretch of water where Donald Campbell made his legendary, but ill-fated, attempt on the record with Bluebird on January 4 in 1967.
• MetalFX recently signed a licensing agreement that allows Sun Chemical to make and sell MetalFX inks from five locations located throughout the United States. They are St Charles, IL; Santa Fe Springs, CA; Atlanta, GA; Philadelphia, PA, and Grand Prairie, TX. MetalFX inks can be used to print up to 104 million metallic colors allowing all types of printers to achieve special effects.