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BT GLOBAL CHALLENGE - EPIRB OVERBOARD SETS ALARM BELLS RINGING Southampton, Tuesday March 18th 1997 The Marine Rescue Coordination Centre of Canberra (Australia) gave assistance to the BT Global Challenge late last night when it picked up a distress signal coming from the vicinity of the BTGC fleet. Fortunately it transpired that this was a false alarm, but it is doubtless reassuring for both those at sea and their friends and relatives on land to know that in the case of an emergency, help is at hand, and prompt intervention can be counted on. Each of the Challenge yachts carries what is known as an EPIRB (emergency position indicating rescue beacon), a small but amazingly powerful piece of safety equipment that is used to transmit distress signals in the case of an accident at sea. The McMurdo EPIRB is fitted to the rail at the transom of each yacht, and in an emergency it automatically releases from its casing and floats to the surface. It transmits distress signals on 406 and 121.5 Mhz, and the former are picked up by polar orbiting satellites which allow the identification and position of the yacht to within 3 - 5 kms be calculated and relayed to land-based marine rescue coordination centres. The 121.5 Mhz frequency transmitted from the EPIRB enables search and rescue aircraft to home in on the vessel in distress. When Canberra's MRCC picked up the distress signals last night, the EPIRB's identification lead them to contact the BT Global Challenge Race Headquarters in the UK, who in turn contacted the fleet. In the meantime, Commercial Union reported that she had lost her EPIRB, which had broken free from its casing in a gale and fallen into the sea, and the source of the false alarm was quickly identified. The rogue EPIRB now remains bobbing in the Southern Ocean, but its signals will cease automatically after a minimum of 48 hours, once its battery runs flat. Expired EPIRBs tend to either get washed ashore or crushed by larger vessels at sea; given that the McMurdo EPIRB is only the size of an average pot plant (about 7 - 8 inches high), and weighs only as much as a bag of sugar (1.5 kilos), the chance it of being crunched by a sea container and lost forever are high. It seems as though the weight and force of water crashing down on Commercial Union might have activated the EPIRB's hyper-static release which cuts the securing straps, setting the unit free - and setting off a chain of international phone calls. Commercial Union will now have to continue to make her way towards Cape Town minus her EPIRB - but her crew remain unflustered by the incident : "Christopher Columbus never had GPS, Capsat, VHF or an electronic barometer and look how well he did. Columbus didn't have an EPIRB either and as of this morning, neither do we...". A new replacement EPIRB will of course be fitted on the yacht when she arrives in Cape Town. Meanwhile, the fleet sails on through the Furious Fifties, with Group 4 leading and Heath Insured II at the back. There are now some 1400 miles to go to the Kerguelen Islands (generally regarded as the halfway point in this leg) and spirits are reported to be high throughout the crew, who have been giving some thought to what they miss most when at sea - read tomorrow's race news for further details! For updated information on the BT Global Challenge : Internet site : http//www.btchallenge.com Fax database : 0990 321123 (+44 990 321123 from outside UK) Recorded telephone information line : 0891 505550 (UK only) Public enquiry bureau : 01703 212124 (+44 1703 212124 from outside UK) Ceefax page 388 (UK only) |
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