Oceanography and yacht racing –a handful of competitors,

millions of spectators

David Griffin

George Cresswell, Kim Badcock

Madeleine Cahill, Chris Rathbone, Peter Turner

Christmas in Australia means going to the beach,

and watching the Sydney-to-Hobart yacht race.

Why do we ruin our own Christmas?

• we don’t really care if the record is beaten or not, or who wins

• we do care about competitors’ safety

• yachtsmen are fine test-pilots of the ocean forecasting system

• we reach a huge audience, with the message that the ocean is incredibly dynamic, and that techniques exist for monitoring it

• we’re proving that its possible to base real-world decisions on present-generation ocean-observation technology

Ocean racing is like Formula-1

• it’s a proving ground

• fishermen are just as savvy as yachtsmen

• but many potential stakeholders have been slow to see, or believe, the benefits of ocean information to their industries

• without more user-pull, the golden years of four altimeters flying will not be repeated

thankyou