Partner Article

Yachting elite prepare on Tyneside

Some of the world’s most talented yachtsmen are descending on South Tyneside College this summer to undergo specialist training to prepare them for one of the world’s toughest professional yacht races - the Volvo Ocean Race.

The nine-month race is known as the “Formula One” of the yachting competition calendar, covering 39,000 nautical miles of the globe’s most treacherous seas and visiting 12 ports around the world.

The college’s Ocean Safety sea survival training familiarises competitors with safety equipment used in the race, such as life rafts, man overboard recovery systems and pyrotechnics, as well as search and rescue techniques, medical training and sea survival skills.

First to arrive for the training last week was the Ericsson Racing Team. 20 team members including Brazilian skipper, Torben Grael, and Swedish skipper, Anders Lewander, completed the intensive training over two days.

After a classroom session, storm conditions at sea were recreated in South Tyneside College’s environmental pool to provide a realistic environment for the mariners to test out their skills.

Whilst being battered with 6ft high waves, wind and rain, the elite sailors were required to work together as a team to upright and gain entry to a life raft and set off distress flairs to alert rescuers to their location.

Alistair Hackett, General Manager of Ocean Safety, said: “The race organisers wanted the training to be far more realistic this year to ensure that competitors are fully prepared to face whatever the race may throw at them. “Our first sessions have worked extremely well and have enabled competitors to train in a realistic environment with the same equipment they will have onboard their yachts during the race. “The skills they’ve gained may prove critical should anything go wrong during the race.”

Teams from Russia, Spain and the UK are also due to visit the training centre to prepare them for the race, which starts on 11 October.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .