“The Antarctic to starboard” is a phrase with some legendary connotations, that captures the inhospitable nature of the regions of the Great Southern Ocean, one of the most tough maritime zones on Earth, and one which the Barcelona World Race entries will be getting to grips with. This area of water is not only the toughest in terms of weather conditions, with ‘raging forties’ and ‘furious fifties’ battling it out, but it also the toughest in terms of psychology, as the sailors circumnavigating the globe will navigate some of the most isolated waters that exist.

 

That’s why those organising this round the world challenge need to pay special attention to the boat-tracking logistics and rescue procedures for this part of the race. Round the world racing history has proved the importance of the role of the sea-rescue services in Australia, New Zealand and Chile, as they have all played a role in rescue operations involving ocean sailors who, for various reasons, have been shipwrecked or have found themselves in a position where they were unable to sail their boats by their own means.

  

 

In the first step towards an adequate organisation of the regatta safety programme, Race Director Denis Horeau, and Director of Race Operations Pere Sarquella have travelled to New Zealand and Australia to visit the maritime rescue services headquarters in both countries. In Canberra the pair visited the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) Head Office and they visited Maritime New Zealand’s Wellington Rescue Coordination Centre (RCCNZ). This trip marks a landmark in the relationship between the race organisers and the maritime rescue services fo the regions the race will be navigating. According to Denis Horeau, this is primarily a very important research measure: “This is the first time that the organisers of an around the world race have taken the time to visit the headquarters of these rescue centres. First of all we wanted to thank them, and to express our gratitude for all of the lives they have saved since they opened, as well as for all of their help and assistance since round the world racing began”.

 

The second great motivation behind the trip was to coordinate the tracking procedures in these immense ocean areas that are taken care of by both centres. It’s very important to define a clear work and communication system during the race and to clearly defin the functionsof each centre. That requires the maximum level of exchange of information. “We’ve agreed that we’ll provide the maximum information on each team,” commented Pere Sarquella. “We won’t just be giving them the technical specs of each boat, but information on all of the onboard communication systems, the identification codes and the personal and medical information for each of the skippers”.

   

At AMSA in Australia, Denis Horeau and Pere Sarquella met with Christine MacMillan, the Director of the centre, who seemed very pleased with the visit. AMSA boasts one of the world’s most advanced boat-tracking systems. Their area of responsibility is an enormous area of ocean, stretching from some 250 miles to the East of the Kerguelen Islands up to 160º E meridian that approximately cuts the Tasman Sea in half, where the New Zealand jurisdiction takes over. This is an area the Barcelona World Race entries will navigate for some 3,500 miles (almost 6,500 km), and where they will endure some of the toughest sea, wind, cold and tiredness possible.

 

 

The success of the collaboration between the rescue centres and the race involves a fundamental technolgical axis. The Australian technicians will be incorporating the satellite tracking data sent to them by the Barcelona World Race into their tracking programme. “The Australian technician have asked to be sent all of the tracking data, as they will be entering it into their tracking system,” explained Pere Sarquella. “In this way, if any type of incident occurs that forces the skippers to activate their emergency beacons, the mutual knowledge will be immediate. We will also be able to keep them informed of any communications we get from the boats that may affect maritime safety”.

 

In New Zealand the Barcelona World Race Directors were received by Rodney Bracefield and John Seward, Training Manager and Operations Manager respectively of the RCCNZ in Wellington. The New Zealand centre has recently undergone some restructuring, although the centre is the heir to over a century of maritime surveillance and rescue. New Zealand’s area of responsibility extends from the aforementioned 160º E up to 130º W, another enormous stretch of sea through which the Barcelona World Race boats will be sailing for some 2,500  miles (4,630 km) before they reach the Chilean area.

 

In the same way as their Australian counterparts, the NZ experts were very pleased with the meeting and offered their maximum collaboration. “It’s been very important for us to meet”, said Horeau. “Above all, so that we can start to plan for the race from now until the start. We must bear in mind that the boats will be going through Cook Strait, which makes our collaboration with the New Zealanders will be a very close one”.

 

The NZ technology will be the same as the programmes used by the Australians and the same type of agreement has been agreed with their experts. In both cases, with both countries, it has been agreed that in the case of an incident the Barcelona World Race organisers would take responsibility for all contact with the Press and the media, allowing the rescue services to give their full attention to the rescue operation.

 

 

The Wellington visit has also been of particular importance to both race directors. The passage through Cook Strait means that it’s possible to capture the boats on film, just as it was in the previous edition of the race. In reference to this matter Denis Horeau and Pere Sarquella visited the Royal Port Nicholson Yacht Club to study the possibility of setting up a tracking office at Cook Strait and to look at setting up the logistics in terms of boats and helicopters to obtain footage and pictures of the boats.

 

The possible technical stop-over for the boats in Wellington was also looked at by the race directors. Horeau and Sarquella visited the Chaffers Marina, where the boats that stopped in Wellington during the last regatta (Hugo Boss, Temenos II and Mutua Madrileña) docked. The directors looked at the facilities and met Tim Brooks, the Events Project Manager for the local council and examined the details of the possible presence of the racing boats in the marina. With this in mind, the directors also visited the Hakes Marine shipyard, where Aviva and Ecover were built, among other boats, using cutting edge technology. This was to plan the best possible technical assistance for the teams, should they require it. “The idea is to plan everything as well as possible”, explained Sarquella. “and to set sown the basis for a solid collaboration for the next edition of the regatta and for the future”.

 

The process will be completed with Denis Horeau’s upcoming visit to the sea rescue service centres in Chile and Argentina at the end of February. The aim will be the same as the objectives followed in Australia and New Zealand. For the Barcelona World Race Director this pooling of knowhow and data and the relationship with these centres for maritime rescue are fundamental in terms of guaranteeing a secure future for the round the world race, which will allow ocean sailing to develop with the maximum possible international collaboration guarantees. “It’s necessary for us to get to know one and other, and it is important for us to thank them for the work they have carried out in the history of ocean sailing and to work towards the most efficient collaboration for the future”.