Eighty years ago, competitors in the very first Round the Island Race would probably have checked the barometer at home to see if the pressure was rising or falling, kept an eye on the sky and clouds to see what the wind was doing, and relied on local navigational knowledge to determine the fastest and safest route around the Isle of Wight.

However, today's competitors have the benefit of some of the country's leading meteorologists and on-board technology from race sponsor Raymarine to help race as fast and as safely as possible in the 80^th J.P. Morgan Asset Management Round the Island Race, taking place on Saturday 25^th June 2011.

For the last eight years the Raymarine Weather Briefing, which takes place on the eve of the race, has brought the expertise from some of the country's top sailing meteorologists to the competitors.   Presenters have included Volvo Round the World race weather expert and local Isle of Wight resident Chris Tibbs, and Libby Greenhalgh, who is Met Office trained and is the Royal Yachting Association's Olympic squad weather forecaster.

World renowned meteorologists

This year, Libby Greenhalgh, will be taking a break from her work with the RYA's Olympic squad to once again present the latest weather and tidal information live to competitors at 18.00 on the eve of the race at the Island Sailing Club. Raymarine are also offering competitors in this special anniversary race the expertise of Dr Simon Keeling, author of ‘The Sailor's Book of the Weather', BBC and internationally renowned TV and radio presenter, and member of the Royal Meteorological Society. Dr Keeling will spend the three days prior to the race recording and broadcasting key weather and safety tips from the Island, available to competitors via SMS and from the Raymarine website.  As well as building up the big picture ahead of the race, these broadcasts give useful information about tidal data and weather, which is equally crucial for first time competitors and experienced racers.

With the majority of boats competing in the race fitted with modern electronics, competitors can integrate the weather and tidal information provided at the Raymarine Weather Briefing into their on-board navigation systems to give them up to the minute data as they race around the Island.

Ensuring safety whatever the challenge

UK-headquartered Raymarine has been the market leader in developing technology which, for nearly forty years, has helped keep boaters safe at sea.  This now includes thermal imaging cameras used for night vision and easy identification and location of other hazards in poor visibility; LifeTag man overboard systems which alert the skipper if a crew member has fallen overboard with a position location; and Digital Selective Calling (DSC) VHF radios which act just like a mobile phone for communications between vessels and shore, as well as incorporating an automatic function which transmits a Mayday emergency call with the vessel's GPS position, should emergency assistance be required.

World War II technology goes HD

Today almost every boat over 25 feet (7.6 metres) will have radar on-board.  But in 1931 when the first Round the Island Race took place, radar technology was in its infancy.  Its development was accelerated enabling radar to be used by the military during the 1939-1945 World War, and it was soon commonplace on military and commercial vessels.  It was not until 1991 that Raymarine, known as Nautech at that time, broke new ground in developing the first radar for leisure boat owners.  This revolutionised safety for leisure boaters, enabling them to see vessels, shorelines and other hazards for up to 12 nautical miles.  Today, Raymarine's radar technology includes Super HD Digital radar, which automatically processes and displays targets in ultra-high colour clarity on a Raymarine multi-function display (MFD) screen.

Staying ahead through integration

These MFD units form the hub of the modern boat's electronic systems, with radar, chart plotters, and instruments all feeding into the MFD to be displayed on screen.  The concept of integrated technology has been fundamental to Raymarine's success following the launch of their very first product - the tiller pilot - in 1974.  Within a few years, this steering device integrated technology in a way never seen before, enabling sailors to set the steering to automatic, giving them much needed support while at sea so they could rest or carry out other activities on board. 

As the 1970s and 80s progressed, navigation equipment remained limited.  Any technology used on-board - from a log (which was a trailing line attached to a spinner to record distance) through to a compass or rudimentary wind direction instruments - were separate and ‘stand alone'. Then in the mid-1980s, Raymarine began integrating autopilots, including tiller pilots, to compatible navigation receivers, such as GPS and Long Range Navigation (LORAN) radio transmitters, as well as direct connections to wind direction sensors. In 1989 Raymarine launched Seatalk, a system which enabled Autohelm instruments, Autopilots and GPS to share information in a much simpler but more intelligent way than before.  In 1992 Raymarine once again broke new ground with the Autohelm ST2000, an updated tiller pilot that used the SeaTalk system  to access wind information, enabling it to have an automatic ‘steer to wind' function, and to receive navigational data, which enabled the pilot to be set to sail to a specific waypoint or place.

Sat-nav systems for boaters

This development of the communication protocol, SeaTalk, was the turning point for modern marine leisure electronics, and soon Raymarine started to develop integrated instrument systems that offered universal data on each screen but with local control.  Information was shared through a system backbone, and each screen could be customised to display or repeat data.  In the early 1990's Raymarine (by then known as Raytheon) launched its first electronic charting system which used GPS to display the vessel's position against an electronic version of the traditional paper chart. 

While today everybody takes for granted the ease and simplicity of using an in-car satellite navigation system, the introduction of electronic chart plotters meant that boat owners were already benefiting from this technology back in the 1990's.  The launch of the electronic chart plotter and the availability of world charts revolutionised leisure boating giving sailors accurate positional awareness at a glance and offering enhanced safety while at sea.  By using a chartplotter with GPS satellite navigation, boaters could plan routes electronically, and see their progress on the chart at all times.  Global electronic charts now offer 3-D data, panoramic views of ports and harbours, and even useful on-shore information such as locations of services including hospitals, banks and restaurants, while touch screen technology makes passage planning quick and easy.

Ultra high clarity colour screens enable vessel tracking

Now in 2011, Raymarine's suite of navigation, communication and safety products are integrated into ultra high clarity colour touch screen multi function displays, which process and show all the data required on a single screen in a multiple of formats as determined by the user - single screen, split screen or several displays side by side.  One of the latest technologies available - and one that will be used by both competitors on the water and shore-based organisations - is Automatic Identification System (AIS).  This easy-to-install ‘grey box' receives data which displays the location and identification of boats around you on the MFD screen.  This can be overlaid against chartplotter or radar data, and when racing, effectively provides skippers with a tracking device to follow other boats.  From a safety point of view, it also shows the course, speed and direction of all the larger vessels in crowded shipping lanes, such as the Red Jet and Red Funnel ferries and the container ships and cruise liners coming and going from the Port of Southampton.

With the anticipated 1600 plus boats participating in this year's 80^th anniversary J.P. Morgan Asset Management Round the Island Race, all competitors, spectators, race organisers and even visitors to the Island can be grateful for today's modern technology that helps keep people safe while at sea.  This, combined with the latest up to the minute weather briefing, helps ensure everyone gets the very best from the day's race.