Technology and offshore racing

When the Transatlantic Race 2025 gets underway from the USA to England, competitors will have the option – with no penalty – to have their boats helmed by autopilot. Elaine Bunting reports on another big change among the boats participating in the 2023 ARC transatlantic rally:

The most significant change across the fleet this year was the arrival of Starlink. Elon Musk’s low earth orbiting satcom system has landed in sailing in a major way; perhaps as many as 25-30% of the ARC yachts had it on board.

The hardware is inexpensive and easily installed, the system is plug and play (immediately if on 240V), and crews told me it produced solid broadband connections and speeds right across the Atlantic.

There are cons as well as pros to being so connected to shore but the advantages greatly outweigh them. Starlink, and the competitors racing to catch up, such as Amazon’s Project Kuiper and China’s Geespace, is a historically significant leap, posits Paul Tetlow, the new managing director of organizers World Cruising Club.

“The way I see it, if we look at ocean crossing and the technology that changed it, this is like the availability of GPS or electronic charting. It’s a step change in overall equipment and how people live life on board and what their expectations are,” he comments.

This year Starlink allowed the organizers to set up a WhatsApp group for the fleet to share information and photos, a modern version of the position reporting and social role that its SSB radio net previously played. On board boats, it has immediately transformed the ways crews are living and operating. – Full report