Wescom Group is supplying British sailor Ian Herbert-Jones with Pains Wessex marine distress signals for his boat Puffin in the round-the-world Golden Globe Race. (GGR)
The GGR is a single-handed, non-stop, round-the-world race. To mark the original achievement of Sir Robin Knox-Johnston in 1969, entrants cannot use GPS navigation or high-tech race boats.
The Golden Globe Race, which starts from Les Sables-d’Olonne, France on Sunday 4 September, is the longest endurance event in sport, with competitors being alone at sea for up to nine months.
Pains Wessex marine safety equipment for Golden Globe Race
We are providing the following Pains Wessex marine safety equipment on board the Tradewind 35 Cutter, Puffin, as it sails non-stop around the world, via the five Great Capes:
- 4 Red Parachute flares
- 12 Handheld Red
- 6 Handheld White
- 4 Floating Orange smoke
- 1 Personal distress signal flare pack with flares
- 2 large polybottle cases
- 2 x 3L small polybottle cases.
- Compact Distress Signal mini flare
- Pains Wessex grab bags.
Wescom Group has been protecting seafarers for 150 years and is committed to safety, quality and reliability when it is needed most.
Pains Wessex the ‘go to’ company for British sailors
Ian Herbert-Jones says, “Pains Wessex has been the ‘go-to’ company for British sailors for years, so this was a simple choice for me.
“Like most safety kit, flares are something you never want to need to use, but when you do need them, you need to be confident that they’re going to work first time, every time. Having the best flares on the market in my grab bag is just another example of being as well prepared as I can be for the GGR.”
Adventure and personal challenge
To sail around the world alone and non-stop has been a long-held ambition for Ian Herbert Jones. It’s all about the adventure and personal challenge, rather than the race itself.
“There are almost too many challenges even to list in GGR, from becoming a solo sailor for the first time to learning traditional astro navigation, but at this stage, I would say that the greatest challenge is simply to get to the start-line! It’s been a huge endeavour over more than three years.
“Once I cross that start line, a whole new set of challenges will begin. The isolation of sailing alone and without any outside support for up to 300 days can’t be understated. The ocean is an unforgiving environment for both skipper and boat, so keeping both safe and moving forward will be tough and then, of course, there is the Southern Ocean and Cape Horn, the Everest of sailing, but that’s exactly what I signed up for.”
24/7 safety cover
The GGR organisation will provide 24/7 safety cover, and every boat will be equipped with the best marine safety equipment, ocean life rafts and survival suits, plus all competitors must carry out mandatory safety training.
Although competitors cannot use GPS, each boat will be tracked and their positions displayed to a worldwide audience on the GGR Race App overlaying the boats against real-time weather data.
Ian Herbert-Jones concludes, “In the GGR I am only racing against myself. This is a personal challenge and I see the other skippers as my friends, so my goal is to finish, as simple as that, to complete the circumnavigation, non-stop, unassisted and alone, while only using traditional navigation, crossing some of the world’s most hostile oceans, and to finish in ‘good order.’”
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