Jump to content

Round New Zealand updates


Guest

Recommended Posts

Hello,

 

I thought you all deserved an explanation of the tracker situation during leg 2 of the Round New Zealand race.

 

The trackers that we originally shipped to Auckland didn't arrive in time - despite being shipped 12 days before the race, UPS screwed up and they got delayed in the UK. Our only option was to send a member of staff to NZ (quite a long way from London), carrying a new set of trackers. All that we had available at this late stage were from a recent batch from our contract assembly plant. The units passed a visual inspection and had worked well on a previous race. We had no cause for concern.

 

It would appear that the extreme weather caused many of the trackers to spend a lot of time underwater. Normally this would not present a problem - our trackers are rated IP67+ and have proven themselves countless times. Indeed, the tracker on Rambler 100 which spend a couple of days underwater when she capsized during the Fastnet race, worked perfectly as soon as she was righted.

 

On closer inspection, we have found that this batch of trackers missed a crucial part of the assembly process. There is an internal silicon gasket which keeps the water out, and it's not been fitted to this batch. We're really proud of Yellowbrick's reputation for reliability, so I can't tell you how frustrating this is for us. Obviously we're putting additional checks in place to make sure this can't happen again.

 

We're doing everything we can to support the race committee, and to keep the race viewer updated with radio scheds as we receive them. New trackers will be fitted to all of the boats before they leave Stewart Island for the start of leg 3.

 

Thanks for your patience,

 

Ric Searle

--

Yellowbrick Tracking, UK

Link to post
Share on other sites

Thanks for that Ric, certainly seemed "unusual". If it is any comfort people were really enjoying them up till the point they died. Keep up the good work.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Not to belittle the ordeal, decisions or actions made by any of the sailors out there, but to my mind the hero of this leg is the mighty Sunstone! What an effort! I may have missed something but as far as I can tell they must have copped it as much as anyone and yet their progress has hardly skipped a beat. When things got really bad they reported that "the last 24 hrs had been a bit damp and unpleasant". Big ups the houseboat!

Link to post
Share on other sites
We're really proud of Yellowbrick's reputation for reliability, so I can't tell you how frustrating this is for us. Obviously we're putting additional checks in place to make sure this can't happen again.

 

We're doing everything we can to support the race committee, and to keep the race viewer updated with radio scheds as we receive them. New trackers will be fitted to all of the boats before they leave Stewart Island for the start of leg 3.

 

Thanks for your patience,

 

Ric Searle

--

Yellowbrick Tracking, UK

 

What a bloody fantastic post Ric. Kudos for fronting and giving and open, honest and transparent account of what has happened and why. A model for customer relations and brand management in my eyes. Well done mate.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Update from Sunstone for Leg 2 days 6 & 7:

 

We were relieved to hear that both the Pelagians and Panther were OK. They must have had a hell of an ordeal and deserve a prize for getting through it. Maybe someone would sponsor it. Mount Gay might be appropriate! Yesterday was another jolly day of 30+ knot beating, but after we got away from the influence of the low we had pure blue skies, broken only by the occasional soaring albatross.

 

Anyway it seems to have done us good as we're now only 20 miles behind Surreal, instead of 60. Beautiful moon and some nicer breeze for a while last night as we came inshore to find a good lift along the shore until it all died - mostly about 5 -7 knots since then, but with a nice view of the mountains with lots of albatross. A good day for drying out!

Tom & Vicky Jackson.

 

20 miles behind Sureal - not bad but not unexpected, what else do you expect for a couple who sail to Alaska and back between SSANZ races :)

 

EE

Link to post
Share on other sites

Update from skeds:

 

All is well aboard Danaide, Panther, Pelagian 2, Revs, Sunstone, Truxton and Vingilot. Still to hear from Expedition Coppelia and Surreal.

Link to post
Share on other sites
What a bloody fantastic post Ric. Kudos for fronting and giving and open, honest and transparent account of what has happened and why. A model for customer relations and brand management in my eyes. Well done mate.

 

and on his Sunday afternoon too!

Link to post
Share on other sites

Am I getting some one-off anomaly or do others see the same when they look at the tracker site?

 

As it appears on my screen now, Surreal has a substantial lead and the label shows the plot as having been updated at 0800 today, but also shows Surreal as 9th on line with just over 671 miles to go.

 

Truxton and Danaide (one live and one manual) have emerged from Golden Bay with just over 400 miles to go and are 4th and 3rd on line respectively.

 

Not bagging anyone here: until the trackers can be replaced, the tracker site can still serve as a useful graphic complement to the positions posted on the SSANZ site (the limitation being that the live boats are going to make ground on the manual plots between scheds).

 

It would make sense to keep it as relevant as it can be though, otherwise there is the possibility that people will stop looking at it.

 

And apologies in advance for the conclusions I have reached if I am somehow the only one seeing it this way.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Good to front but doesn't fill me with confidence when I think about safety gear in general. I would have thought checking seals was pretty basic given how dependent people are on these and other electronic safety devices. They are designed and built to be used in the marine environment. Should we all now check that our EPRIBs and HH radios have seals?

Link to post
Share on other sites

Yup! Sometimes honesty will get you a kick like that one from changed, but I reckon Ric from Yellowbrick was spot on. He fronted up, explained all truthfully, and apologised, and explained what was being done to rectify.. Top marks, great post. I hope other companies look at this example as to how it should be done instead of putting some bullshit corporate spin out there. Top marks. :thumbup: :thumbup:

 

Looks like Pelargian are continuing? Wow. These guys are truly hard men. Gotta be up for some sort of seamanship award? I think the Mayday issue was handled exactly right.. Water coming in faster than it's going out?? Add the black night, sea state, distance from land, 2 handed... They were right on the button.

Ditto for the crew on REVs.. 2-handing a less powerful Ross 40 in a little SIMRAD 100 miler was hard enough, I can't imagine how it was for these guys in those conditions. Very very hard. Top marks to all who finish this leg. I salute you all! :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap:

Link to post
Share on other sites

I too would like to thank Ric of Yellowbrick for his honest comments.

I would suggest he and all Yellowbrick staff would be very disappointed to be let down by 3rd party assembly especially after rushing to get the trackers to NZ for the race.

 

On the positive side I have enjoyed following the yachts' tracks. The screen display is very good, and is now on my must check everytime Favourites toolbar.

 

So IMHO a big thanks to Ric & Yellowbrick :thumbup: :thumbup:

:clap: :clap: :clap: :clap:

Link to post
Share on other sites

so .... looking ahead instead of back... looks like surreal could be in this time tomorrow at stewart island?

and the next 2 not far behind.....

would be magic sailing down there at eh moment....snow capped mountains ....sunny ....following gentle breeze..

i see pelagians tracker while not having its positions acurate..shows distance to finsih is 330nm... so they are getting close too...

Link to post
Share on other sites

Smithy it wasn't meant as a kick! It's a fact that with safety gear we all expect it will work as described when we need it. Are the airbags in your car really connected to the sensor on the dash. One would hope so and that a fail to deploy isn't the first time that someone is going to notice. The various audit processes, ISSO and others, developed over the decades are designed to make sure that these oversights don't occur. I would have thought that all manufacturers of safety equipment would have had similar processes in place. We had a fairly significant failure with a piece of safety equipment in the Balokovic Cup race a couple of Fridays ago and it was a timely reminder that we are not always getting what we pay for, even when we buy known brands.

Link to post
Share on other sites
i see pelagians tracker while not having its positions acurate..shows distance to finsih is 330nm... so they are getting close too...

Not sure if that is accurate Oracle - Danaide (live) is currently at 379 - the two don't compute and I am :?

 

Expedition Coppelia still in Golden Bay has 537 which looks rough-enough level with Pelagian. Although Pelagian is shown as 5th on line so maybe I am more :? than I know.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Changed, the trackers are not a safety item. Whilst I'm sure the manufacturers want them to be of similar standard, not really sure that its fair to use safety standards as a benchmark for them.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Changed: Having the safety gear is only a first stage.

 

Second is knowing and remembering how to use it.

(See YNZ Safety Regs 17.35(B); 19.03(g) and 21.0. Why are they now needed to be stated?)

 

Yes you will need to look them up!!

 

Third Stage: Knowing they actually work.

 

It would be great to be able to test positively that all ones equipment works correctly.

e.g. Does my EPIRB actually send my position?

 

How accurate was that sent position?

 

Does my VHF DSC button really work?

 

Of course one can't just activate them to see if it works as alarms will ring on many vessels. Is there a way to satisfy ones own curosity?

 

I do recommend that one inflates the life raft themselves, preferably with the family / crew present as well, when it is due for it's next service.

 

What does the emergency rations taste like? :think:

 

Do you want to upsize your order or have chips wth that?? :lol:

Link to post
Share on other sites

I simply restate; companies that manufacture or supply safety equipment, or equipment that may be construed to be a safety device, should have audit processes in place to ensure that it is as they describe. If it is manufactured for them then they need to check that those manufacturers do.

Link to post
Share on other sites

I think Changed has a point. While the trackers may not strictly be safety equipment they are a good indication of a yachts position if all other communication fails in an emergency. Most marine equpment is relatively expensive so the least you should expect is that it is reliable and performs in the environment it is designed for. Good to get the explanation for the failure but failure it was so I hope and and am sure there will be systems put in place to ensure there is not a reoccurrence. Good test bed that storm !

Link to post
Share on other sites
I simply restate; companies that manufacture or supply safety equipment, or equipment that may be construed to be a safety device, should have audit processes in place to ensure that it is as they describe. If it is manufactured for them then they need to check that those manufacturers do.

 

If it were only that simple.. I work in the contract manufacturing business and we make similar tools to the yellowbrick. I can state with some authority that ISO standards do not guarantee quality . In this particular instance all they will do is for the Contract Manufacturer to look at and amend their practices to prevent this from reoccurring

Good on yelllowbrick for manning up and taking one on the chin. I can imagine that the pressure to get the second batch of trackers to NZ in time was significant and unfortunately some of the usual quality checks were rushed / missed.

 

As you say they " should have audit processes in place to ensure that it is as they describe." and Im sure they do.. Sometimes sh*t happens and people get it wrong. A 50c O-ring failure sends a Space shuttle down.

 

Good on you Ric, It could of been a PR disaster, As it is I think everyone has enjoyed the YB interface and I look forward to the next leg with working trackers.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.


×
×
  • Create New...