Remote site controlled HF radio system for Fremantle to Bali Yacht race 2015.

The challenge to overcome environmental noise, in highly populated locations, with HF radio communications is one that Barrett Communications has successfully resolved for the Fremantle Sailing Club, for their upcoming Fremantle to Bali yacht race & rally. The port city of Fremantle in Perth, Western Australia is a bustling city environment with significant environmental and electrically generated “noise” that can make it difficult to send and receive the clear and reliable high quality HF radio communications required for the 1,440 nautical mile race.

Greg O’Neill, Managing Director of Barrett Communications commented “We have sold many HF remote site controller systems into government organisations around the world, so when we received the request to assist we knew exactly the system that would work”. The Fremantle Sailing Club already has a Barrett 2050 HF transceiver as part of their race control radio room and Barrett Communications have supplied, in addition, a Barrett 2076 Remote site control system. The semi rural remote transmit and receive station is connected via an internet connection to the Sailing Club which is located 13 kilometres away. Barrett Communications has also supplied a Barrett 2050 HF transceiver with a 912 Broadband dipole antenna and a 2022 mains power supply for use as a temporary race control HF base station at the Bali end of the course. The race got off to a smooth start on Monday 18th of May after a 48 hour postponement due to a storm front with gale force winds. F.S.C. race control reported the Barrett HF radios were working well in pre race radio checks.

The annual Fremantle to Bali Yacht race & rally has gained a significant following since the first race in 1981. This year’s event has 21 yachts registered with the race finishing in Benoa harbour, Bali. Once the race has been run the rally will continue with smaller groups of yachts sailing on to enjoy the wonderful locations that Indonesia has to offer. “In addition to the widely publicised and followed race, the rally known as Beyond Bali involves island hopping the Gili Islands, Kimodo Islands, Labuan Bajo and other exotic areas of Indonesia. Many of the yachts in the Beyond Bali rally will stock up with clothing – school supplies – notebooks, pencils and pens – and fishing equipment to give away as they make their way home via the scenic route, making the event special to local villages they sail into along the way,” commented Mr Bob Kucera, Race and Rally Chairman. All official race scheduling will be undertaken using HF radio by Kordia Solutions Australia as directed by the Australian Maritime Safety Authority, AMSA. Kordia designed, built, maintains and operates the High Frequency (HF) maritime communications network for Australia’s Search and Rescue Region (SAR), a critical element in the delivery of the Global Maritime Distress and Safety System (GMDSS) across one of the largest ocean areas in the world, covering approximately 52 million sq km. Kordia have also provided official race scheduling for the Sydney to Hobart and Melbourne to Osaka Yacht Races. “We are pleased to have Kordia managing our race scheduling and Barrett Communications assisting us with our general HF radio comms. Safety of our crews is our upmost priority and both companies are world renowned for what they do,” commented Mr Rob Thomas, Director of Race Operations.

Kordia are also familiar with the Barrett range of products, utilizing them in GMDSS coast stations in Western Australia and New Zealand.

The Fremantle Sailing Club has used a Barrett 2050 HF transceiver as part of offshore race control for the past few years, and some of the competing yachts and cruising yachts will have Barrett equipment on board. “We have been supplying the Barrett 2050 as a marine HF radio to sailing competitors and enthusiasts for years now as well as for general marine use, both commercial and domestic. Although the Barrett 2050 HF transceiver is not DSC maritime compliant, we find many crews choose our equipment for its ease of use, flexibility and for the competitive price point compared to GMDSS compliant marine HF radio’s”, advised Mr O’Neill. Barrett Communications wish all crews a safe journey and look forward to tracking their progress along the way.

Track the race progress here…

Yellow Brick F.S.C. Bali Race and Rally Live Tracker