Video of this year's record-breaking Bermuda Challenge was beamed live to thousands of fans watching online via Inmarsat FleetBroadband.
Powerboat duo Chris Fertig and Tyson Garvin took just 15 hours and 48 minutes to complete the crossing from the Statue of Liberty in New York to St. Georges, Bermuda, in their craft Skater 399 – smashing the existing record by one hour and 18 minutes.
The Bermuda Challenge, a speed boat race with the aim to complete the route between New York and Bermuda in the shortest time possible, was introduced in 1994 to encourage designers and engineers to create better and faster boats.
Inmarsat partner Marlink provided the FleetBroadband airtime for the record-breaking attempt.
“To be able to share our adventure live with all our friends, family and fans was fantastic,” says Chris Fertig, skipper of the Skater 399 powerboat.
“We've been impressed by the Inmarsat FleetBroadband service – even in extreme boat motion we were still able to maintain a constant live video stream.”
At 39ft, real-estate was at a premium on board Skater 399, so a compact FleetBroadband 250 antenna was chosen for communication to shore, including video delivery. Software using advanced compression techniques enabled high-quality video to be streamed live over satellite channels using very low bandwidth.
