Last week Volvo Ocean Race opened its new Race Control, a high-tech hub inspired by the NASA control centre, which will be the nerve-centre of the race when it starts next year. It is the most advanced race control room ever built for a yacht race.

“It will be the main tool for Race Director, Jack Lloyd and his team to manage the racing 24 hours a day from the start of leg one, to the finish of the last boat in the last port,” said Knut Frostad, Volvo Ocean Race CEO, in his address to guests and media at the opening event.

“Inside Race Control will be a team of up to four duty officers who will work in shifts throughout the day and night during the entire racing period, exchanging information between the fleet and Race Headquarters.”

With an 18-screen video wall, eight control positions and the centre platform of a traditional and electronic chart table, this highly sophisticated hub will provide constant monitoring of all boats and the weather conditions they experience.

The hi-tech Race Control will also connect with the actual race, the sailors and Media Crew Members. Sophisticated satellite systems will transmit stories from the fleet thousands of miles from land, back to Race Headquarters.

“The Volvo Ocean Race is different from other sports because, apart from the arrivals, leg starts and in-port races, it is not possible for the media to cover the race first hand,” explained Frostad. “Therefore, we have to take the race to the media and we have to do that with a minimum of lead time and sufficient capacity to handle a global audience on many different media platforms.”

For more, visit www.volvooceanrace.com.