Mobile satellite communications services provider Inmarsat has renewed its partnership with the Volvo Ocean Race ahead of the 2017-18 edition of the sailing event.
Inmarsat will serve as the event’s official global satellite communications partner and continue to power the Race’s digital content delivery from the oceans. The 2017-18 edition will mark Inmarsat’s fifth consecutive event as a partner.
Under the agreement, Inmarsat’s fleet of satellites will deliver the event’s communications technology, with the company’s FleetBroadband system providing a continuous connection for teams to allow access to the internet, emails, calls, weather reporting and telemedicine.
Each of the event’s 65 boats will also be fitted with an IsatPhone 2 satellite phone. Inmarsat’s services will also be utilised as for the first time, sailors will be able to post on social media during every leg of the 2017-18 event.
Race chief executive Mark Turner said: “During the last edition, our partnership with Inmarsat helped to deliver some of the Volvo Ocean Race’s most memorable moments, such as broadcasting live from Cape Horn as the fleet rounded, and enabling satellite connection to the Team Vestas Wind crew grounded on an atoll in the middle of the Indian Ocean.”
The 2017-18 Volvo Ocean Race begins on October 22 in Alicante, Spain. Sailors will visit a total of 11 cities across five continents.