What is being referred to, or implied?
The father's revealing of the signing of the contract to the press, or the actual signing of the contract itself?
At this point I would believe nothing that comes out of Laurie Sunderland's mouth, including "the" and "and".
Om a web page connected with this project, a poster has made a comment about it which is dated 18 October 2009, before she set out, even before they had acquired the boat.