Prize awarded for ‘toughest of the toughest’ job in sports reporting

by Volvo Ocean Race on 28 Jun 2015 Matt Knighton of Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing has won the Inmarsat Onboard Reporter (OBR) Award for the Volvo Ocean Race 2014-15, celebrating the most challenging sports journalism job in the world.

After a gruelling nine months at sea, delivering video, photography and blogs back to shore, the €20,000 cash prize and coveted trophy were presented to Knighton by Inmarsat’s CEO, Rupert Pearce, at the final Gala Dinner in Gothenburg tonight.

Judged on creativity, quality and story-telling, the runners-up, Amory Ross (Team Alvimedica) and Sam Greenfield (Dongfeng Race Team), were also presented with €8,000 cash prizes by Pearce.

'I am delighted that the work of all nine talented OBRs, seen by a global audience of millions, has been made possible by Inmarsat's global satellite network,” said Pearce.

“The journey of each team has reached us on shore for the past nine months and that would simply not have been possible without our reliable, global communications network and the grit, determination and hard work of the OBRs.

“They have had the responsibility of documenting everything on their journey and for telling the stories of their teams while facing tremendously harsh conditions.

“We congratulate Matt on this phenomenal achievement and celebrate the success of Amory and Sam, and of all of the OBRs, this evening.”

Inmarsat’s network made race communications possible by providing each of the seven race teams with vital connectivity throughout the duration of the race.

Through Inmarsat’s FleetBroadband 250 and FleetBroadband 500, the OBRs were able to share every moment of the race with fans and followers at home.

Knut Frosted, CEO, Volvo Ocean Race said: “The work of the OBRs is pivotal to all communications for the race. Without them, we simply couldn’t tell the story of the sailors as they take on this incredible challenge so many miles from land.

“The OBRs need to be diplomats and cheerleaders for the crews, as well as multi-talented, cross-media professionals, as they share the adventure of the Volvo Ocean Race over nine, gruelling months.

“The quality of the content produced by the OBRs speaks for itself, reaching millions of fans and race followers worldwide. I congratulate Matt Knighton, Amory Ross and Sam Greenfield on their hard-earned but very well deserved success.”