The six strong Volvo Open 70 fleet will start tommorow, November 5, in Alicante the first leg of the Volvo Ocean Race 2011-2012 to Cape Town, with a full complement of Thrane & Thrane SAILOR communication systems on board. The big start of tomorrow comes after an action packed opening week of in-port racing that saw the SAILOR domes aft of Team Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing’s Volvo Open 70 cross the line over 40 minutes ahead of second place Puma Ocean Racing in the first competitive racing of this campaign.
SAILOR 500 FleetBroadband
The scope of supply for the 2011-2012 race fleet includes SAILOR 500 FleetBroadband, SAILOR 150 FleetBroadband, two SAILOR mini-C systems and VHF radios. Race umpire ribs are equipped with SAILOR VHF fixed radios and organisers carry SAILOR handheld VHF radios during in-port races and the start of every leg. In addition, Volvo Ocean Race’s travelling media teams use EXPLORER 700 BGAN terminals for broadband back-up connections from various shore based spots along the race course.
The SAILOR 500 FleetBroadband will be the central communication hub for each Volvo Open 70 during the race. Its dual role will be to provide the means for navigators to download weather data, which is vital for competitive performance and for Media Crew Members (MCM) to upload race footage, reports and interviews for television and web, helping to grow support for ocean racing on a global basis. The SAILOR 6110 mini-Cs and SAILOR 150 FleetBroadband will also support the media efforts as the yacht telemetry they deliver will be used to create accurate, real-time 3D models for the VOR website and broadcasting.
“I will shoot nearly an hour’s footage a day and have to send between two to four minutes worth back to Volvo for use on the web and television. Once it’s compressed it will only take about 20 minutes to send, which isn’t bad considering it will take that long no matter where we are,” explains Yann Riou, the Team Groupama MCM. “The SAILOR 500 FleetBroadband handles it easily and we’ve been using it without any issues since last winter, so we’re confident that it’s going to perform reliably throughout the race. Having the SAILOR 150 FleetBroadband on board is a great help too. It’s always connected so I’m able to send photos, blogs and articles back to Volvo HQ with ease.”
“The Volvo Ocean Race is a truly global event so our coverage has to be as good in Asia as it is in Europe and North America,” adds Jordi Neves, Technical Director, Volvo Ocean Race. “With professional MCMs recording the action on board and the SAILOR systems used for submission into the content distribution network we’re confident that we can deliver a continuous flow of high quality action for the fans.”
Thrane & Thrane is the Official Sponsor of Satellite and Radio Communications Equipment for the Volvo Ocean Race 2011-2012. This is the third consecutive Volvo Ocean Race that the company has taken on responsibility for providing reliable satellite and radio communication systems to the cutting-edge fleet of Volvo Open 70s, race organisers and officials.
“The Volvo Ocean Race is a great place to demonstrate the kind of extreme environments that we design our equipment to operate in. You could say it’s the ultimate test of SAILOR equipment, but we know it’s already proven in some pretty tough environments and are more than happy for the teams and the oceans to put it through its paces. We’re confident it will just keep on working no matter what they throw at it,” concludes Lars Thrane, co-founder of Thrane & Thrane.
