Exercise Transglobe endorses Raymarine products

by Liza Sticpewich on 19 Jan 2010 Six months after the departure of the three 20-metre (67-feet) yachts participating in the British Services Exercise Transglobe 2009-2010 expedition, they are now halfway round the world, heading for Auckland, New Zealand.

After 16,000 nautical miles, the Navy, Army, and Air Force crews report 100 per cent reliability from the Raymarine equipment fitted on board. From the wind instrument transducer at the top of the mast, to the chartplotters and repeater displays, the equipment has provided all the key data for the skippers and navigators to make their tactical decisions.

The latest leg to be completed was the world-class Rolex Sydney Hobart race that started on Boxing Day. The first Forces boat to finish, in 58th place, was the RAF Sailing Association's Discoverer, skippered by Becky Walford (pictured). It won the Oggin Cup for being the first Forces team to cross the finish line in Hobart and Becky was also presented with the Jane Tate Trophy for being the first female skipper. The Polish Trophy for the furthest-travelled yacht competing in the race went to all three Joint Services boats.

Becky Walford says Raymarine equipment plays a vital role for the crews. 'The E120, high-performance, multifunction display is brilliant, especially with the Automatic Identification System and radar overlay. Having it on deck is great. We were able to track Adventure – the Royal Navy boat – on the radar, which was fantastic! Driving off the digital wind readout is very useful at night, so you don't have to crane your head up the mast.

The 13-stage expedition departed from Gosport, UK, in July and will take more than 500 British Services crew around the world. The aim of the expedition is to develop the participant's personal qualities and team skills in an extremely challenging environment, and some of the crew on board include service personnel recently returned from tours in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Squadron Leader Neil Cottrell is the Project Team organiser and has himself completed the Cape Town to Freemantle leg as First Mate on board the RAF yacht Discoverer. He says, 'The five thousand miles between South Africa and Australia is a huge distance which we completed in thirty-two days. Throughout that period the Raymarine equipment proved itself every day. The features on the E120 chart plotter are outstanding and we set our watch leaders the task of producing pilotage plans into Fremantle. They all used the chart plotter's information to expand on the information gleaned from the paper charts we carried. Being able to view aerial photos of the approaches was a particularly good feature of this equipment.'

He adds, 'We are really grateful for the support that Raymarine has provided both in sponsorship and technical support to this major Adventurous Training Expedition.'

Each of the yachts is equipped with an integrated navigation suite comprising Raymarine instrumentation, and two E120 multifunction displays, with chart plotting and radar capabilities. The system repeats all data below deck, enabling the navigator or crew to see vital information at all times.