Volvo Videos

Activities today in extreme western North Carolina - home base Asheville - include an excursion to Chimmney Rock Park. If you're going to be this far from the water then you might as well be standing somewhere like this...

BBC News has posted a very good account of on-board television camera technology as it relates to the sport of sailing. According to the article, each boat that raced the Volvo had seven cameras aboard, including one in the first spreader bar on the main mast able to be rotated remotely in order to capture 360 degree footage.

The pictures are sent back by an antenna unit at the back of the boat. It tracks one of four satellites, allowing data speeds of up to twice that of a dial-up connection anywhere along the boat's 30,000 mile long route.

Privacy is not the first concern offshore...no great loss there. In fact, as the article points out, the ability to analyze performance and to provide spectators with increased visibility far outweigh complaints about "big brother."