Sanya's media man gets first MCM award nomination

5 Jul 2012, 09:21UTC

Sanya's media man gets first MCM award nomination

IAN ROMAN/Volvo Ocean Race

Andrés Soriano of Team Sanya has won his first nomination for an Inmarsat Media Crew Member Award after Leg 9 from Lorient to Galway, the Race’s final stopover.

Andres Soriano, Media Crew Member, Team Sanya. Photographed at the finish of leg 7, in the Lisbon Race Village, during the Volvo Ocean Race 2011-12.

IAN ROMAN/Volvo Ocean Race

Yann Riou, Media Crew Member, Groupama Sailing Team, photographed at the finish of the transatlantic leg, in the Lisbon Race Village, during the Volvo Ocean Race 2011-12.

IAN ROMAN/Volvo Ocean Race

Amory Ross: Media Crew Member, PUMA Ocean Racing. Photographed at the finish of leg 6, in the Downtown Miami Race Village, during the Volvo Ocean Race 2011-12.

IAN ROMAN/Volvo Ocean Race

The other candidates for the coveted last stage prize are Yann Riou of Groupama sailing team and PUMA Ocean Racing powered by BERG’s Amory Ross.

Both Riou and Ross are regulars on the podium for the award which recognises the fantastic work our MCMs do in providing our audience with multimedia content direct from the six boats.

Soriano was a late pick for the Sanya campaign and has been getting better and better, the judges noted after the 550-nautical mile leg.

“We have seen and noted his improvement throughout the race and he thoroughly deserves being elevated into a top three position,” said Inmarsat’s Vice-President External Affairs Chris McLaughlin.

Volvo Ocean Race Communications Director Jon Bramley added: “This leg lasted just a day and a half and it was our most ambitious yet from a communications standpoint with a string of live video calls from the boats throughout. It was a very intense and testing time for all six of our MCMs and all came through magnificently.

“We made the most of our Inmarsat FleetBroadband communications and Thrane & Thrane satellite equipment and they came through too with flying colours.”

The Leg 9 winner will be announced in a public prize-giving in the Galway Race Village later on Thursday with the overall victor revealed on Saturday night in the end-of-Race gala dinner.

Inmarsat is the Race’s Official Satellite Communications partner and together with official sponsor of satellite and radio communications equipment Thrane & Thrane, they ensure media content reaches our fans every day.

The FleetBroadband units fitted to each of the six Volvo Open 70s allow racers to communicate via a satellite system with the outside world from the world’s oceans, giving fans access to stunning HD video and stills pictures, blogs, photographs and audio clips.