Alicante, in-port racing and the final jump

The Volvo Ocean Race is an extraordinary global sports event, as well as an exceptional showcase for the capabilities of our core maritime service offerings. As Race Sponsors for the fourth consecutive edition, the Inmarsat brand was everywhere – most notably on the stern of each race boat which has installed a FleetBroadband 500, FleetBroadband 150 and Inmarsat C antenna. We are responsible for delivering everything from safety services and telemedicine, to voice services and broadband connectivity that supports real-time video off the race boats even in challenging sea and weather conditions. Our services make it possible to broadcast the awe-inspiring story of life at sea on each of the race boats back to race HQ in Alicante which the team is then able to share with millions of race fans around the world.

The Volvo Ocean Race stop-overs are fabulous events for corporate hospitality and over the two weekends in Alicante we hosted numerous Inmarsat guests, including the Chinese Ambassador to the UK, His Excellency Liu Xiaoming. The Race Village, race preparations, in-port racing, final departure of the race fleet, and Alicante itself were each compelling viewing and an enjoyable backdrop for business and strategic discussions and the chance to get to know important constituencies. Added to that, we arranged for our guests to spend an afternoon aboard a Volvo 70, Monster Project, which gave them a chance to experience what it’s like to sail on one of these extraordinary ocean racing machines. Great fun was had as we ventured out of Alicante harbour and approached speeds of 20 knots, often going faster than the wind, which was a surprise to many. His Excellency proved to be a terrific skipper, getting all the other guests to hike out to support his successful effort to set the fastest speeds of the day!

We were granted unique access to the 2014-15 race boats themselves, as well as the skippers and crew. I was lucky enough to be selected to ride with one of the race boats, Dongfeng (the Chinese sponsored team), as it departed from Alicante en route to Cape Town. It was a jaw-dropping experience. After a couple of hours of preparations and pre-race start manoeuvres, it was a case of waving goodbye to the crew jumping off the stern into the sea…or stay on for the next three weeks to Cape Town! Fortunately, the boat was only travelling at 15 knots and the sea was warm, so jumping off was technically easy – if somewhat daunting as I clutched onto the rail and gave a final interview to the Dongfeng Race Team Onboard Reporter, Yann Riou! I’m looking forward to seeing that footage.

Rupert Pearce was Inmarsat’s Chief Executive Officer from January 2012 until February 2021. Rupert joined Inmarsat in January 2005 as Group General Counsel and, from January 2009, additionally held the position of Senior Vice President, Inmarsat Enterprises. Previously, Rupert worked for Atlas Venture, where he was a partner working with the firm’s European and US investment teams. He was previously also a partner at the international law firm Linklaters, where he spent 13 years specialising in corporate finance, M&A and private equity transactions. Rupert received an MA (First Class) in Modern History from Oxford University and won the 1995 Fullbright Fellowship in US securities law, studying at the Georgetown Law Center. He has been a visiting fellow of the Imperial College Business School, London, lecturing on the school’s Entrepreneurship programme, and is the co-author of Raising Venture Capital (Wiley).