have you seen a yellowbrick?
If you’ve been following any of the big yacht races over the last couple of years, undoubtedly you will have done. Normally sat on the back of the yacht, they are little yellow tracking beacons and they transmit position, course and speed information back over Iridium satellite.
They’re used all over the World, currently being used on the Barcelona World Race, the VELUX 5 OCEANS, all sorts of yacht and powerboat races in Europe, plus some more recent ones in Australia and the Middle East…
Yellowbricks are:
- Reliable (no blackspots in coverage, because Iridium works everywhere)
- Robust (fully waterproof and sturdy)
- Easy to fit (you can fit one in about 30 seconds)
- Self-contained (internal batteries and antennae)
The service from Yellowbrick also provides an excellent web-based race viewer, optional live leaderboard facilities and all the back-up and support you need as a race organizer.
Advantages over other systems?
- Two-way comms with the tracker, so you can change the position reporting frequency whilst the boats are out
- Automatic changes of timing as boats round certain marks, so a more detailed track can be seen at key points in the race
- In an emergency the transmission rate can be upped to give more frequent positions.
- Much easier to install than other systems, totally non-invasive, no messy Velcro to stick on the deck or screws to be seen!
- Tried and tested in the biggest of races, in the most challenging conditions
- Excellent all-inclusive pricing.
The best bit – from January 2011 they are available for hire and purchase in the United States!
If you are an individual yacht owner, Yellowbricks can be hired or purchased for short trips, or on a longer term basis.
If you’re an event organizer needing 10, 100 or 500 trackers for your upcoming race, get in touch – we’d be happy to help – go to www.yellowbrick-tracking.com for more information!
Mention Sailing Anarchy when you get in touch, and we’ll give you a 10% discount on all bookings until the end of 2011.
