PUMA Ocean Racing to use Ixsea’s HYDRINS in the Volvo Ocean Race

by Bridgid Murphy on 17 Dec 2010 Volvo Ocean Race 2011-2012, one of yachting’s most difficult and prestigious events will see PUMA Ocean Racing join the competition. Over a nine month span starting in October 2011, PUMA Ocean Racing will cover almost 40,000 nautical miles and make stops in Spain, South Africa, UAE, China, New Zealand, Brazil, USA, Portugal, France and finish in Ireland around July 2012.

PUMA will be racing aboard their Volvo Open 70 yacht, a high-performance sailboat capable of reaching speeds in excess of 40 knots. The race course will test the yacht and crew with extreme temperatures, winds, and seas.

In order to maximize their performance, PUMA Ocean Racing is using Ixsea’s HYDRINS Inertial Navigation System (INS) as the core of their navigation suite. Based on Fiber-Optic Gyroscope technology, HYDRINS is a compact, high-performance INS that has been optimized for use in any type of surface vessel. Designed to cope effectively with GPS drop-outs and multipath effects, it delivers highly accurate position, attitude and velocity data in real time to the navigator and skipper.

PUMA Ocean Racing will utilize the HYDRINS during exhaustive testing of different sail and boat setup configurations to provide precise performance information for PUMA’s VO 70 which will be delivered in Spring 2011. During the Volvo Ocean Race, the HYDRINS will provide precise heading information in some the world’s harshest and remote locations.

Ken Read, skipper and CEO of PUMA Ocean Racing, said 'We are excited to be working with Ixsea and to use the HYDRINS to get the most out of our boats.' Tom Addis, PUMA’s Navigator, said '…other instruments we have used in the past gave results that varied from tack to tack and at different heel angles…. so it’s been very helpful having an instrument that we can implicitly trust.'

Phill Wilson, Managing Director of Ixsea USA, noted 'Ixsea is thrilled to be partnered with a premier racing program like PUMA Ocean Racing and we look forward to helping them win the Volvo Ocean Race!'

www.ixsea.com www.pumaoceanracing.com www.volvooceanrace.com