Event manager Stuart Whitman comments: "We have had excellent support from Orbital over the past two seasons, improving our event communications dramatically. They do a supreme job, whatever the conditions, and we have a great working relationship. We wanted to maintain the continuity for the Asian series, giving us quality communications without drama - as there is more than enough of that in the racing itself. This is an exciting move, as we embark on evolving the Extreme Sailing Series format and bringing it to new audiences around the world."
Orbital has provided a comprehensive communications and multimedia infrastructure for the event over the past two years, providing audio relay capabilities, ship-to-shore communications, UHF radio commentary and multimedia facilities at each of the six European events - co-ordinated by Orbital's director of event communications Tim Sherratt and project engineer Marek Tkacik. As well as handling all the event management communications, Orbital provided the communications systems for the race officials and umpires to handle the scoring and timing requirements, ensuring that all start and finish logistics operated seamlessly.
Tim Sherratt says: "A major enhancement for this year's season involved the design and implementation of a sequenced five-minute countdown to the start of each race, in different languages. This was done to enhance the VIP and general public's experience, building a sense of atmosphere and tension prior to the start of each race.
"We introduced several new pieces of kit this year, including the d&b e8 Series loudspeakers, which allowed us to leave the equipment rigged outside all the time, even in the harshest of weather conditions. It has been a great season, and we are looking forward to the inaugural Far East series over the next few months."
(Jim Evans)
