For the first time in its history, on 29th October, Volvo Ocean Race six Volvo 70 yachts crew members will be carrying a Survivor Recovery System, the Kannad R10 AIS (SRS). Moreover, on each yacht two R10 SRS will be fitted to Ocean Safety’s tried and tested Jonbuoy Recovery Modules. The R10 SRS will automatically start a function if the Jonbuoy is launched. The R10 also fits to lifejackets, thus included in the five out of six teams which will be carrying Kru Sports Pro lifejackets produced by Ocean Safety.
Volvo Ocean Race Team Sanya
What makes the R10 SRS so innovative and indispensible is the way it works using AIS (Automatic Identification System) sending out a structured alert message, GPS position and a special identity code directly which will be picked up by AIS receivers on vessels within a four mile radius. The data is very accurate because of the R10’s high precision GPS receiver. The benefits of the R10 mean if a crew member falls overboard, the alert will transmit both onboard the yacht, and also on other vessels in the area. The yacht will know the person’s position in the sea and have a better chance than ever before of locating and recovering them.
If the yacht itself is in distress, once again, other vessels in the area can rapidly assist, as crew members activate their R10s. It makes sense that an automatic R10 is also attached to each Jonbuoy so that once a man overboard is supported by the inflated Jonbuoy ‘cradle’ they can also be located and easily recovered from the water.
Mark Hart of Ocean Safety comments, “It is only natural that we would select our premium products to give the Volvo Ocean Race crews the very best chance of survival in the unlikely event of having a major problem. All the equipment we are supplying is designed with withstand the huge demands of the oceans and yet be compact in design for space and weight saving.”
The six yachts are naturally making no compromise to safety. Each edition of the Volvo race has seen a giant leap forward in advancing onboard safety to protect the crews, and for this gruelling 39,000 mile sprint around the world carrying the R10 SRS provides every crew with the very latest in life preservation, and location and recovery, that technology has developed.
