Volvo Ocean Race - Interview with Ian Walker

by Louay Habib on 21 Jan 2015 Volvo Ocean Race - Ian Walker, skipper of Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing spoke exclusively to Cobham SATCOM about their focus on boat speed, which has been the telling factor in the race so far.

'Fundamentally, it is how you trim the sails and steer the boat. However, we have ballast tanks, dagger boards and a swing keel and all the gear on board. The most important factor is the sail settings and choice of sail combination but all of these factors contribute to performance. We spent all of our training trying to figure out how to make the boat go quick.

ADOR have been consistent, almost conservative, in their tactical decision making. Whilst other teams have 'rolled the dice' ADOR have been playing the percentage game and relying on their skill, experience and meticulous data collection before the race, to optimise one thing and one thing only - speed.

- See more here.

Eighties and early nineties pop stalwarts Crowded House once sang, 'Everywhere you go, you always take the weather with you,' and for Will Oxley, Navigator aboard Team Alvimedica, it couldn't be any truer.

Team Alvimedica is currently leading the fleet in Leg 2 of the Volvo Ocean Race, and Will spoke to Cobham SATCOM reporter, Louay Habib before the start of the leg from Cape Town to Abu Dhabi.

One of the most experienced yachtsmen in the fleet, Will has already been Navigator twice in the Volvo Ocean Race; first for Puma Ocean Racing in the 2007-08 edition and then for Camper with Emirates Team New Zealand in the 2011-12 edition.

Will is highly-tuned to almost quantum levels of detail when dissecting GRIB data. Even the tiniest speck of information can make all the difference between catching the breeze or playing catch-up with the other teams. So it's vital that he can rely on Team Alvimedica's ability to get its weather reports quickly and reliably.

Will is highly-tuned to almost quantum levels of detail when dissecting GRIB data. Even the tiniest speck of information can make all the difference between catching the breeze or playing catch-up with the other teams. So it's vital that he can rely on Team Alvimedica's ability to get its weather reports quickly and reliably.

2014-15 Volvo Ocean Race Leg 2 Cape Town to Abu Dhabi - Indian Ocean 430 km north east of Mauritius.

1510 UTC, November 29, 2014 - Team Vestas Wind informed Volvo Ocean Race Control via Cobham SATCOM's SAILOR 250 FleetBroadband that their boat was grounded on the Cargados Carajos Shoals, Mauritius, in the Indian Ocean. The crew survived the incident with no injuries and the boat has now been recovered.

According to Team Vesta Wind Skipper, Chris Nicholson, the SAILOR equipment on board the Team Vestas Wind Volvo Ocean 65, played a vital role in the incident:

'Using satcom and VHF we were in contact with Race Control, Alvimedica and the Malaysian Coastguard. Once we had lost all power on board we continued to keep in contact via portable VHF with the coastguard and Alvimedica and this was on an hourly basis to conserve battery power. There is no doubt in my mind that being able to communicate played a vital part in the crew's safety and survival.'

We Knew Within Seconds

Louay Habib spoke in depth with Volvo Ocean Race's Jack Lloyd about the communications that helped save the lives of the nine crew. As Volvo Ocean Race Director, Jack runs Race Control, based in Alicante and operates 24/7 when the boats are at sea.

'For many races, we have used the SAILOR Mini-C for telemetric data, which is displayed on our web site dashboard. We actually receive this information every 15 minutes but we have gone even further for this race. Although it is not published, every ten seconds we get a huge amount of data from the boats via the SAILOR 250 FleetBroadband.

Read the interview and more exclusive content here.