Globalstar Europe Satellite Services Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Globalstar Inc., has announced that TracTrac, specialists in tracking solutions for competitive sailing and extreme sports, is deploying Spot Gen4 devices to support race events on land and sea.
Established in 2005, TracTrac is a software and services company which has developed a tracking platform specifically designed to provide tracking capability for difficult-to-follow sports.
In competitive sailing, TracTrac has long supported many regattas internationally which predominately take place inshore, namely sailing races which hug the coastline and can be tracked using GSM-based systems.
Speaking about the deal, Chris Terkelsen, Co-founder of TracTrac, said: “We’ve been seeing huge growth in more challenging racing events, far beyond the shoreline; we knew that to deliver reliable tracking for these longer races further offshore, we needed our system to include satellite technology.”
Terkelsen added: “Spot’s ease-of-use and ubiquitous, reliable satellite-enabled reach, were key influencing factors. Spot’s economical and competitive pricing was also a very important component in the selection decision. Other systems were more expensive, and we found them to not deliver commensurate performance benefits. With Globalstar and Spot we know are getting powerful functionality and real value for our investment. Spot only has a few buttons; it is easy to hand to the boat crews or our partners and right away they can see how to use it. Open sea can be a hostile environment, and it comes with risks. Spot’s SOS button provides great peace of mind for the race organisers as well as participants.”
In 2020, TracTrac procured a newly launched Spot Gen4, more than tripling its total pool of Spot devices as a result. Spot Gen4, which Globalstar launched in EMEA in August 2020, offers many new features compared to its precedents, including more mapping options, improved water resistance and an enhanced user interface, among others.
The TracTrac interface also reveals a variety of different performance data, showing the manoeuvres the sailors are performing, and other useful data such as wind direction. Furthermore, an overview of the boats’ locations helps event organisers with logistics management due to the ability to predict arrival times, as well as safety.
Terkelsen explained: “We’ve seen a significant rise in offshore events, in the Mediterranean and Atlantic, for example, but also there is growing demand and participation in extreme physical endurance races in rugged and remote terrain, all places where mobile can’t reliably reach. For all these, we’ll need Spot’s satellite-enabled tracking.”
Gary King, Globalstar’s Spot Regional Sales Manager, stated: “We are excited to help TracTrac support its customers with reliable Globalstar satellite technology. The adrenaline-charged events that TracTrac supports, with real-time tracking as part of its live viewer interface, will certainly provide exhilaration and delight for spectators all over the world.”
Globalstar’s economical Spot satellite devices also provide security and emergency support to employees for a growing number of businesses, governmental and non-governmental entities across the world.
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