The Global Ocean Race 2011-12 is proud to announce that it has entered into a partnership with OC Technology. OC Technology has developed the highly-successful OC Tracker with the largest fleet of tracking devices in the world used in offshore racing events including the Rolex Fastnet 2009, Volvo Ocean Race, Barcelona World Race and the 2009 OSTAR. OC Technology has agreed to supply two OC Tracker units for each Class40 entered in the Global Ocean Race 2011-12 – up to 11 entries are confirmed so far - and will provide the Race Organisation with back-up units.

The OC Tracker system uses the constellation of 66 Iridium satellites providing total global coverage for the duration of the race with a delay of between 30 seconds to three minutes at a scheduled reporting time for a yacht’s position, COG, SOG and DTF to be registered on the system’s secure server.  The OC Tracker will be linked with the Global Ocean Race Geovoile Race Viewer providing precise data every six hours on the Global Ocean Race website. “With OC Technology onboard as Race Partners we can be sure that our primary safety mechanism is of the highest standards,” says Josh Hall, Race Director of the Global Ocean Race. “The massive side benefit of a top quality tracking system is that race followers can watch the event unfold on their screens via the Race Viewer which will show the boat’s positions, tracks and a wealth of other pertinent data,” he adds. “The Race Viewer was a hugely popular element of our 2008-09 event and we are committed to its technical evolution for 2011-12.” 

Weighing just 1.2 kg, the robust, cylindrical, self-contained unit is 30 cm long and due to a Class40’s GRP construction, the OC Tracker can be mounted inside the boat, rather than fixed to the pushpit as is necessary on carbon fibre race yachts. With an independent battery life of 100 days (based on an hourly polling frequency), the OC Tracker has a ‘Red Button’ feature that instantly transmits a message to a designated email address allowing a crew to signal that they are still onboard although all other communication systems may have failed. In the case of an emergency at sea, the polling frequency can be increased via remote programming to provide minute-by-minute position reports facilitating any rescue operation and while the OC Tracker is no replacement for an EPIRB (Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon), the second unit supplied by OC Technology will be stowed in each yacht’s grab bag.

The OC Tracker will provide enhanced safety for the teams in the Global Ocean Race while the speed and reliability of data transmission will allow the race spectators to follow progress throughout each leg during the 33,000 mile circumnavigation. “OC Tracker has been designed specifically for the relentless and extreme conditions that are experienced in round the world races,” commented Clementine D’Oiron, Manager, OC Technology which is part of OC Group. “We are committed to supporting high quality events and to see them benefit from our experience in offshore tracking so we are more than happy to have this new partnership with the Global Ocean Race,” concluded D’Oiron.  


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Notes: OC Group is professional sailing’s leading global sports marketing agency, working across Europe, Middle-East and Asia for top brands and host cities, developing and managing its own team and event properties as well as supporting premium projects of other entities.

OC Group includes a dedicated technology development division (OC Technology) and an integrated creative design business (OC Vision) alongside the athlete management business (Offshore Challenges Sailing Team), and events business OC Events. OC Group have won numerous awards from the sport business and sponsorship industry for their many successful projects since 1997.

One of OC Events key properties is the award winning Extreme Sailing Series, now in 10 venues across Europe and Asia – check out the latest ground-breaking action at http://www.extremesailingseries.com