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Vestas 11th Hour Racing scoops Inmarsat Communication Award

Congratulations to Vestas 11th Hour Racing, winners of the Inmarsat Communication Award for Leg 7 of the Volvo Ocean Race.

The team faced one of its toughest sailing challenges in the middle of the Southern Ocean when the boat’s mast broke and the crew were forced to dismast to avoid damage to the hull and make landfall on the Falklands Islands.

Throughout the ordeal Vestas kept race fans around the world updated with news of its progress from boat repair to safe return in Itajaí, Brazil, just in time for the Leg 8 start to Newport, USA on 22 April.

Digitally connected

As one of the world’s most exciting offshore sailing competition, getting all the action offshore to race fans ashore is made possible thanks to Inmarsat’s FleetBroadband connectivity, kitted out on each Volvo Ocean 65 boat.

Each team has a dedicated Onboard Reporter to capture content and send back photos and video footage to race control in near real-time, and for the first time all crew members have a crew communicator to post their own content on social media, making this edition of the Volvo Ocean Race the most digitally connected of all time.

Following an exciting In-Port Race which saw a win for team MAPFRE, the seven boats have now embarked on the 5,700nm race to Newport.