Dec 17, 2008

Sport - Volvo Ocean Race uses Google Earth to get closer to fans

MUMBAI: The organisers of the Volvo Ocean Race have announced a new initiative that harnesses the power of Google Earth to display the multimedia content.

The Volvo Ocean Race positions itself as being the ultimate mix of world class sporting competition and on-the-edge adventure, with a tradition dating back 35 years.


Eight international teams of 10 sailors, plus one dedicated media crew member, are competing in 10 offshore legs, along with seven in-port races. Scoring points are accumulated through each stage of the race to determine the overall winner.


With the teams carrying an embedded media crew member for the first time in the 35-year history of the race, more content is being shot, recorded and written than ever before. Much of this is currently available on the official race websites.


Volvo Ocean Race head of technology and new media Andrew Ferguson says, "This is yet another tool, another option for fans of the race. In this case, we’re using the power of Google Earth to provide an accurate representation of each leg through the media the sailors are providing.”

To follow the Volvo Ocean Race on Google Earth, fans need to visit the Volvo Ocean Race website www.volvooceanrace.org/Multimedia/google, where they can download the Google Earth data file, (the ‘KML’ file), and find help and instructions in order to get started.

Leg three of the Volvo Ocean Race started from Cochin on 13 December. The fleet is racing to Singapore, where they will spend the holiday season before restarting and continuing their 37000 nautical mile lap of the planet.

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