Please select your home edition
Edition
Selden 2020 - LEADERBOARD

Claire Vayer: Momentum on solution-finding by MMAG is building

by Ed Gorman / IMOCA Globe Series 26 Apr 2024 22:47 PDT
A meeting at The Transat CIC race village © Adrien Nivet / polaRYSE / IMOCA

Awareness and progress towards finding solutions to the problem of boats hitting marine mammals at sea is growing, according to Claire Vayer, Sustainability Manager at IMOCA.

After a meeting at The Transat CIC race village at La Base marina in Lorient on Wednesday, when the Marine Mammal Advisory Group (MMAG) briefed an audience of stakeholders, Vayer said the momentum behind this project is growing.

"My main message would be that this is a complex issue with a bunch of complementary solutions that we all have a mission to work on together, and the main point of progress is that everyone now wants to deal with it and work on it," said Vayer who, alongside Damian Foxall, former Sustainability and Program Manager at 11th Hour Racing and a coordinator of the MMAG, briefed the meeting.

"A couple of years ago there was a kind of omerta (vow of silence) on this issue," Vayer added. "But today we are reached by stakeholders in the offshore sailing world, not just in IMOCA but other classes, organisations and teams too. And the richness of this is that it also involves external organisations, like scientific bodies, that will join us to work on this."

The MMAG - the stakeholders of which include both IMOCA and 11th Hour Racing, plus World Sailing and The Ocean Race - is pursuing several approaches to trying to mitigate and reduce the instance of marine mammals being injured or killed by fast-moving racing yachts.

At the last Transat Jacques Vabre, many IMOCAs were fitted for the first time with Hazard Button technology incorporated into their navigation software. This allows skippers to alert each other and the race director in real time if they hit or observe mammals on the course. This is helping to build a database of where mammals are found which can be used by race officers to implement exclusion zones or alter racecourses to avoid areas of intense mammal activity. It is also an opportunity to gather data for scientific databases.

Both The Transat CIC and the race back to France, the New York Vendée-Les Sables d'Olonne, have courses that have been tailored by race officers to avoid mammals, in the case of the former at the finish, and the latter, at the start and elsewhere on the course.

Vayer says Hazard Button technology has huge potential. "The aim is to develop a global system," she said. "Right now we use only our software (ADRENA), but we are working on a global database which could gather information from other detection systems and from ships and other sources. Our aim is for global information sharing on collision and observations."

In parallel with work on the Hazard Button initiative, the IMOCA Class is developing the EXOS 2024 system. This combines artificial vision, multi-sensor fusion and the use of a boat's autopilot to spot obstacles on the surface of the water and ultimately respond to them through automatic collision avoidance.

"Today we don't have the exact solution that can solve the problem of underwater activity ahead of a yacht," explained Vayer. "So for now the main emphasis of work is to combine solutions and merge information in EXOS 2024. This will use information from GPS, the AIS and the thermal and optical Sea.AI camera at the top of the rig. The idea is to inform the pilot to act when it detects movement above the water and to form a new combined detection technology."

Vayer says the plan is for most IMOCA boats to have this system, which is being trialled by three yachts in The Transat CIC, in place for the start of this year's Vendée Globe in early November.

Related Articles

New study in Vendée Globe could be a game changer
Research is being carried out by a bio-engineering specialist into human performance What effect does racing alone around the world on a high performance IMOCA yacht have on the human body and mind? Posted on 14 May
Team Malizia unveilsThe Ocean Race Europe crew
Gearing up for the next big challenge Building on their successful round-the-world experience in 2023, the team led by German skipper Boris Herrmann has gathered a talented group of sailors and onboard reporters to take on the short-format, crewed race starting in Kiel this summer. Posted on 13 May
Touching base with Francesca Clapcich
Francesca Clapcich on her 2028-2029 Vendee Globe campaign In late March, Italian-American sailor Francesca “Frankie” Clapcich announced that her Team Francesca Clapcich Powered by 11th Hour Racing will campaign for the 2028-2029 edition of the Vendee Globe race. Posted on 13 May
Francesca Clapcich joins Team Malizia
Sail four legs of The Ocean Race Europe Francesca Clapcich is joining Team Malizia as a co-skipper for the second edition of The Ocean Race Europe, the six-stopover tour around the continent, which sets off from Kiel, Germany and finishes six weeks later in Montenegro. Posted on 13 May
An emotional evening in Les Sables d'Olonne
Les Sables d'Olonne lit up to celebrate the heroes of the Vendée Globe 2024-2025 On Saturday 10 May, Les Sables d'Olonne lit up to celebrate the heroes of the Vendée Globe 2024-2025. An exceptional evening brought together tens of thousands of people, with strong emotions and unforgettable memories, despite the driving rain. Posted on 11 May
IMOCA and 11th Hour Racing to continue partnership
Advancing Sustainability and Leadership Initiatives The International Monohull Open Class Association (IMOCA) has renewed its partnership with 11th Hour Racing for the 2025 season. Posted on 10 May
New Loft 57 Podcast Episode Live Now
Featuring Vendée Globe winner Charlie Dalin, Ken Read, and Guillaume Verdier Loft 57, the North Sails Podcast, offers exclusive access to the biggest names in sailing. Our newest episode features Vendée Globe winner Charlie Dalin, North Sails President Ken Read, and naval architect Guillaume Verdier. Posted on 9 May
TOR Summit Genova and Generation Ocean Symposium
Genova will host a powerful three-day event connecting generations to protect the ocean The Ocean Race Summit Genova and the Generation Ocean Symposium, an ambitious three-day event, will take place in Genova, Italy in November 2025. Posted on 9 May
Molabo & Team Malizia 48v Hybrid Propulsion System
A pioneering step toward zero-emission offshore performance Lightweight, fuel-efficient, and safe-to-maintain: A pioneering step toward zero-emission offshore performance. Posted on 9 May
Charlie Dalin ready to defend IMOCA Globe Series
The 2024 IMOCA Globe Series Championship was a huge success If you follow the IMOCA Class, you will know that Charlie Dalin is a serial race winner, and last season he emerged for the third time in his career as IMOCA Globe Series Champion in a year capped off by a record-breaking victory in the Vendée Globe. Posted on 8 May
PredictWind - GO! exec 728x90 BOTTOMSwitch One DesignRooster 2025