When the top sailing teams from around the globe gather to compete for national glory in Qingdao, China beginning today, they will have with them the world’s most advanced equipment, the most sophisticated technology and that insatiable drive to excel that defines a champion. It’s only fitting then that Jeppesen Marine’s new Nobeltec Visual Navigation Suite (VNS) MAX Pro software — combining Nobeltec technology and
C-Map MAX Pro cartography — will be there too, helping Chinese sailing officials to lay out and monitor every race.
Through the efforts of leading sailing technology provider and Nobeltec product distributor pyacht.com, the International Sailing Federation (ISAF) selected Nobeltec navigation software as part of its technology solution for running fair races in challenging conditions. The task of running fair races on five circles in a confined area — with light winds and strong currents — required a sophisticated solution. Race officials needed to position race marks for trapezoidal race courses quickly and accurately, while making sure the relocated marks were not placed inside the area of adjacent racing circles. They also needed to remain within a strict set of boundaries established by Chinese authorities, making accuracy vital.
New Nobeltec VNS MAX Pro navigation software was selected because it is easy to use and provides all of the tools and target tracking features the ISAF needed to place both closed and open boundaries on the chart. Based on ISAF recommendation, Chinese officials ordered eight copies of Nobeltec VNS MAX Pro — one for each of the five Signal Boats, one for Principle Race Officer Charley Cook to use for planning and one for the Field of Play office to be used by Chinese officials to track the boats.
In a particularly interesting application, another copy was ordered for the Media Operations Center, where journalists from around the world will be able to watch the Signal Boats and marks move in real time on a large plasma screen display. To help ensure that the Nobeltec VNS
Max Pro software would perform smoothly in these unique sailing applications, Jeppesen Marine sent specialist Matt Taylor to work closely with pyacht.com and meet with Canadian ISAF Official David Sprague to provide necessary instruction and training.
To provide the advanced capabilities required by race officials, pyacht.com’s technology solution required additional sophisticated equipment and training. Each Signal Boat will also be equipped with an Icom IC-M604 DSC VHF Transceiver programmed to request position reports from each of the other Signal Boats in the racing area and each of the marks on its own race course. The racing marks are being fitted with special pouches that hold Standard Horizon HX-850S handheld VHF radios with built-in GPS and DSC capability. This will allow race officers on each circle to quickly determine and correct the location of any mark they need to set, then verify and log the position where the mark was placed.
“We’re extremely proud to have our newest navigation software technology used this way on such a prestigious world stage,” said Shepard Tucker, Jeppesen Marine senior manager, Sales & Marketing – North America. “It is testimony to what we’ve achieved by combining our popular, easy-to-use Nobeltec navigation software with the unparalleled detail and features of C-Map MAX Pro cartography. We wish all of the sailors from around the world safe and successful races,” Tucker added.
To learn more about new Nobeltec VNS MAX Pro navigation software for the leisure boating market, contact Jeppesen Marine headquarters toll-free at (800) 946-2877; direct at (503) 579-1414 or visit online at www.nobeltec.com.
