Heaven Can Wait 2012 - Tracking the marks with Yellowbrick

by Heaven Can Wait Media on 17 Oct 2012 Lake Macquarie on the New South Wales central coast is the largest salt water lake in Australia. It presents its own set of challenges for sailing event onwater organisers.

The Heaven Can Wait One Lap Dash, 12 Hour race and 24 Hour race is around a tough 30 mile course set amongst the inlets

In the middle of a very dark and raining heavy weather night at Heaven Can Wait 2011, one of the 24 hour race course marks was dragged from its position near Mannering Park into the shallows.

One boat attempted to round in it in new position only to run aground in the soft mud.

The Heaven Can Wait race organisers quickly alerted the fleet and set a new GPS virtual mark in the original position, while they sent a course boat to replace the mark, which by that time had reached the beach.

Post event, the decision was made that given the unique nature of the 12 and 24 hour race, the marks needed to be tracked.
One name came to mind for a tracking solution… it was Yellowbrick.

The Yellowbrick distributors in Australia are G-Layer and alterted to the need and the nature of the event,raising money for cancer research, they offer to help immediately.

Since 2009 ,Gionny (Gianluca Morini) and John (John Murphy) have been providing cutting-edge tracking and communication solutions through their company 'G-layer' (www.g-layer.com.au). Both draw on decades of combined experience in research and expeditions on land and sea in areas as diverse as the Himalayas and Antarctica.

As Australians travel more and more to increasingly remote locations the business has grown so rapidly that John and Gionny can hardly find spare time between one jetlag and another. Based in northern New South Wales, the boys split their time between the business, technical work on ships, volunteering for marine rescue and research work.

Their first encounter with Yellowbrick trackers was in the Amazon rainforest. Immediately impressed with the versatility and reliability of the devices, it occurred to them that they should be more accessible for adventurers in the remote areas of Australia, and of course our intrepid yachting communities. The trackers transmit positions at pre-set intervals online from anywhere on the planet. In addition there are options for sending texts, updating social media sites and sending emergency alerts to selected addresses.

As well as building the business providing trackers, they have since diversified into offering Inmarsat and Iridium satellite products, keeping Australians well-connected wherever they venture around the world. Through their web shop, to date, they offer a large variety of marine and land based satellite hardware, making the G-layer a go-to solution for challenging field expeditions, news gathering, equipment installation, asset tracking and custom electronic constructions.

G-Layer was excited to have the opportunity to support the Heaven Can Wait yacht race in Lake Macquarie this year.
John and Gionny both have a long history of working with charities and NGOs and they were very pleased to sponsor the event which raises valuable funds for the NSW Cancer Council. Providing trackers for the marker buoys is an important service for the event.

The Yellowbrick trackers fitted to the Heaven Can Wait buoys worked perfectly in 2012.

With extra heaven ground tackle, the 35 knot gusts experienced on Saturday afternoon did not cause any issues.
Overnight the 12 and 24 hour fleet sailed under a full moon in relative calm and as Principal Race Officer Blake Middleton explained when thanking the G-Layer team. ‘The Yellowbrick trackers on the buoys gave us peace of mind. One less issue to worry about in one of Australia’s most challenging events. ‘

For more information on tracking solutions go to

www.g-layer.com.au)