Latest communication technology support package will be added on every single yacht for the 2010/2011 VELUX 5 OCEANS race. Each yacht will have the latest satellite broadband equipment with a given airtime provision per team as well as the latest camera installed, to make sure every important moment will be captured during this challenging race of 30,000 miles.
Image from a Velux 5 Oceans Race - credit to onEdition
It is the first time in the history of singlehanded offshore racing that skippers have been offered a complete package of onboard cameras and communications management system. A team of experts from onboard media specialist Marine Camera Solutions has begun fitting the high-tech equipment to each of the nine yachts in the 2010/11 edition of the race.
In the final part of an unrivalled onboard communications package, Marine Camera Solutions is installing a SAILOR 250 FleetBroadband satellite unit on every yacht to ensure the best possible communications with the VELUX 5 OCEANS skippers while they are at sea. Skippers will also be provided with M-Link Voyager video editing and compressing software, as well as a broadband airtime package. The package will allow skippers to send and receive emails, and send large files such as pictures and video clips from wherever they are in the world’s oceans. This in turn will allow race followers to stay up to date with all the latest news from the fleet as they race around the globe.
Velux 5 Oceans 06-07 Image credit to onEdition
As announced previously, three high quality cameras will be housed in waterproof cases and mounted on deck and inside the cabin of each Eco 60 yacht. Each skipper will also carry a top-of-the-range Sony Handycam to capture footage from the race which will then be used in a documentary about the VELUX 5 OCEANS as well as available for media to download for news and digital content. A water and shock proof Olympus Tough 8010 compact camera will also be given to each skipper so they can take their own photographs whilst at sea.
The onboard communications bundle is just part of the unprecedented €1.3 million support package given to the VELUX 5 OCEANS racers. Each team will receive €3,500 per stopover to help with the cost of accommodation, as well as complimentary ocean freight courtesy of race partner Maersk Line. What’s more, skippers will compete for a €500,000 prize fund, the largest in any solo sailing race.
VELUX 5 OCEANS race chairman Sir Robin Knox Johnston said: “The onboard communications package offered to the VELUX 5 OCEANS skippers has never been seen before in solo offshore racing, once again putting the race at the leading edge of the sport. The technology each skipper will carry on their yacht will allow them to communicate with family, friends, the race management team and fans of the VELUX 5 OCEANS during their adventure in the Ultimate Solo Challenge.”
The VELUX 5 OCEANS, run by Clipper Ventures PLC, is the longest running solo round the world race, and has 28 years of rich heritage as the BOC Challenge and then the Around Alone. This edition features five ocean sprints over nine months. After heading from La Rochelle in France to Cape Town, the race will then take in Wellington in New Zealand, Salvador in Brazil and Charleston in the US before returning back across the Atlantic to France.
