Telstra supports Airlie Beach's sporting event

by Al Constable on 21 Aug 2008
Telstra Country Wide North Queensland provided the Media Centre Communications facilities for the 2008 Meridien Marinas Airlie Beach Race Week, the largest sporting event in the Airlie Beach calendar, enabling journalists from Australia and overseas to provide updates to sailing enthusiasts from around the world.

More than 20 Australian journalists and race officials used the Telstra Country Wide provided facilities at the Meridien Marinas Abel Point Marina in Airlie Beach, as well as photographers, radio station reporters and television crews.

Telstra Country Wide North Queensland, Area General Manager, David Llewellyn said he was delighted to support the 2008 Airlie Beach Race Week.

'Using Telstra’s World class Next G Network, my team has provided the equipment and expertise to allow race results to be uploaded in real time from race officials that are still on the water ' David Llewellyn said.

'Telstra has become a big supporter of Australian sailing providing innovative telecommunication solutions to many international events including the last two World Etchells Championships and Skandia Geelong Week.

'This Centre has really capitalised on the latest technology enabling photographers to dispatch images publications instantly and other media to file stories in almost real time under tight deadlines, with rapid results coming from the water.'

MMABRW Media Director, Peter Campbell commented 'Telstra Country Wide provided the same support in 2007. Their latest technology, particularly wireless broadband, allowed race officials and journalists to provide instant results and off the water updates.'

One of the most important things for sailors in a regatta is to know the day's racing results as quickly as possible.

This year at Meridien Marinas Airlie Beach Race Week, the results are being recorded and posted directly to the event website from the finish boat, thanks to Telstra’s Next G mobile network.

As the yacht’s finish out in Pioneer Bay, the information is recorded by the event’s results team of Alex St John and David Keppens.

The information is collated and, with the help of a Telstra Next G USB mobile card, sent instantaneously to the official website.

Scorer Alex St John said 'We have been able to get results to the world faster than in previous years. Being able to do results on the water means results are correct and are distributed quickly.'

As a result family and friends are ringing and congratulating crew on the day’s racing, long before they return to dock.

Roger Hickman, sailing master on Chris Dare’s Audi Centre Melbourne (Flirt) was full of praise for the speed in which the results have been delivered to the competitors this year.

‘It’s great. We will be motoring in after a race and we start getting calls letting us know how well we have done on the day. '

The consensus amongst the crews is that the speed in which the results have been delivered this year is a vast improvement over previous methods, and that family and friends often know where the yacht has placed well before the skipper.

When running a regatta, communication is vital and the Next G network has markedly improved this aspect for regatta officials. With the sponsorship of Telstra Countrywide, Race Officials have been able to communicate with Next G mobiles.

Regatta Director, Denis Thompson, said, 'Communications for the Media Centre and Race Organisers are a major factor with 107 boats scattered across three race courses. The support of Telstra Country Wide is much appreciated.'