Ericsson Racing Team
The Ericsson Racing Team completed a two-day sea survival course at South Tyneside College in South Shields, England, in association with KTY Yachts and Ocean Safety.
The course was designed to give the crews of the two boats as much experience and information in the techniques of how to survive the elements. The race course includes some of the most inhospitable seas in the world.
The crews used the equipment that Volvo Ocean Race supplies so that, in the case of an emergency, no time is wasted with any unfamiliarity. This involved practising letting off handheld flares and instruction on how to use the onboard liferaft.
The course location was the new environmental pool at South Tyneside College, which was able to simulate the colder temperatures and wave actions to give a better ‘true to life’ experience.
This made all the tasks much harder and more complicated. "It was amazing just how much harder everything got in the pool," said Julian Salter, the international crew’s navigator.
"It was an opportunity to get our heads around a lot of the possible dangers associated with our sport, and the course was brilliant at making us think how we go about saving ourselves. Hopefully we will never have to use what we have learnt," Salter added.
The second day of the intensive survival course featured firefighting and first aid. Dave Endean, a member of Ericsson Racing Team – International Crew - commented: "It was really good to get hands-on experience of putting a fire out. I’m a lot happier knowing that the equipment we have does actually work, but it has also made me very aware of just how quickly a fire could take over."
The first-aid course was a great reminder for the whole crew of how they will have to rely on the medical expertise of a handful of crew.
"We focused on the most likely injuries we may get during the race, and while we have a few members across the crews who have medical training, it is still good for us all to know, as seconds could make the difference," commented Endean’s teammate, Horacio Carabelli.
You can watch hours of race video at www.VolvoOceanRace.tv, the official Race TV channel for free!