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Life as a Volvo Ocean Race Onboard Reporter

Being Onboard Reporter (OBR) in the Volvo Ocean Race has been described as the toughest sports media job on the planet.

Nearing the end of his first stint as an OBR on the nine-month, round-the-world race, Frenchman Jeremie Lecaudey captured a typical day with Dongfeng Race Team on camera.

Videographer Jeremie, who has previously covered kitesurfing and skiing events, offers a snapshot of the extremes of life onboard a Volvo Ocean 65. For him, the high points include getting to hear the experienced sailors’ stories and having an incredible array of state-of-the-art equipment including a drone, which has been used to film some amazing content in this edition of the race.

Cramped conditions

The video also shows the rough seas and cramped conditions the exhausted crew contend with during the 45,000 nautical mile challenge.

Ten OBRs have taken on the challenge of telling the story of the 2017/18 race, using Inmarsat FleetBroadband to transmit video, photographs and blogs to race HQ in Alicante, Spain and on to TV and radio stations, newspapers and magazines around the world.

In addition, for the first time, crew members have also been able to post content on social media, making this edition of the Volvo Ocean Race the most digitally connected of all time.

Communication Award

In recognition of the skills and resilience involved, Inmarsat has awarded a Communication Award at the end of each leg for the most compelling content transmitted from the world’s oceans.

Describing his own experience, Jeremie says: “Meeting incredible people was my main reason to come on these boats. I wanted to see as many teams as possible and I got what I wanted.”