Kelvin Hughes has become the official supplier of electronic and paper charts for the Clipper 2009-10 Round the World Yacht Race.

As with any offshore yacht race, routing plays a vital role in attaining a podium position and the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race is no exception. Navigation is as important as weather routing in making sure that a team reaches the finish line first but, most importantly, safely. With ten identical stripped down ocean racing yachts battling it out over 35,000 miles the professional skippers and their novice crews will be reliant on the latest navigational charts.

Kelvin Hughes will be supplying high quality Admiralty electronic and paper charts and their chart correction team is busy updating the Clipper chart outfits, providing ten folios ahead of the race start from the Humber on 13 September.

Kelvin Hughes has entered into this exciting relationship with the Clipper Race because of the mutual ambition of both companies. As with the Clipper Race, Kelvin Hughes’ Leisure Division is keen for new people to come into the sport and learn the ‘ropes’ properly through professional instruction and practical experience. Through www.bookharbour.com and resellers all over the country, Kelvin Hughes is the biggest distributor of marine publications, charts and instruments, some of which are specifically designed for safe navigation, while others focus more on boat performance and sailing faster.

Terry Smallwood, manager of leisure business at Kelvin Hughes, says, ‘Sponsoring the race gives Kelvin Hughes the perfect opportunity to support the yachting industry and to promote its specialist products. As well as using our chart data for navigating, the crews will also have a range of our publications, including tide tables, details of shipping lanes, list of radio frequencies around the world, and a number of pilot books for specific information on sailing between the ports of call.’

Representatives from Kelvin Hughes met those competing in Clipper 09-10 at the crew allocation event on 30 May in Portsmouth. The crews had the opportunity to browse through some suggested reading materials aimed at giving them an insight into what makes a racing yacht perform well.

‘We know that the crews need high quality, up to date data in an easily understandable format,’ says Mr Smallwood. ‘We are experts at providing this information for the leisure and racing yacht market, so we welcome this opportunity to work closely with the Clipper Race.’

Clipper Race founder and Chairman, Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, says, ‘As the organisers of the world’s only non-professional round-the-world yacht race we pride ourselves in putting safety first. Kelvin Hughes is a very welcome addition to the race as an official race supplier and the up-to-date navigational material they supply will assist in ensuring that our crews get round both quickly and safely.’