The PowerBar Three Peaks Yacht Race
Stars and Satellites
Rob Howard / 20.06.2007
A huge crate of packed ‘goody bags’ has arrived in Barmouth ready for the teams to collect at the race opening presentation on Friday evening. Sponsors PoweBar are proving to be very enthusiastic and hands-on sponsors, and they will be meeting all the teams and making a presentation on race nutrition.
On Saturday Welsh singer/comedian Max Boyce MBE will be in Barmouth to start the race. Boyce is one of the most popular Welsh performers and is sure to draw a large crowd and keep them entertained before he fires the start canon set up outside the Merioneth Yacht Club.
There are also plans to have a huge outdoor TV screen erected to show live film of the start, which takes place a mile offshore, following a processional exit of all yachts from the harbour. Dream Team TV, a company which started out in Harlech and has now filmed adventure sports worldwide, will be filming the race for Channel 4 and international networks, and will have their helicopter overhead as the race begins.
There is some very good news for those who want to follow the progress of the race from afar as well – this year there will be satellite tracking of the teams (at sea and on the mountains).
The SleepMonsters Adventure Tracker (SAT) was launched earlier this month at the Adventure Racing World Championships on Scotland, and it was a huge success as thousands of viewers around the world were able to follow the progress of the race.
The state-of-the-art units transmit via Iridium satellites from anywhere on earth, giving positional information and have the added security of an alert button which can notify race staff in the event of an emergency.
Teams will be carrying them on sea and land throughout the race so supporters and race watchers can see how they are progressing ... or if the tides are difficult regressing!
SleepMonsters
