Space Tech Onboard Transatlantic Racing Yacht

One team in a trans-Atlantic yacht race will be getting a little help from space technology supplied by the European Space Agency.

The Transat Jacques Vabre race - now in its seventh running - is the only international double-handed race for 50 and 60-foot monohull and multihull yachts. The multihull yachts will zip across the ocean at about 17 knots (20 miles per hour) and the monohulls top out around 13 knots (15 miles per hour).

Marc Thiercelin and his sailing partner Eric Drouglazet will be competing in Thiercelin's 60-foot yacht ProForm, which will be equipped with technology developed for Europe's space programs. Most of the technology is specially designed reduced-weight, high-efficient electrical equipment. The equipment - which includes more efficient solar cells, lighter batteries, and an intelligent power management system - was installed on the boat last year and used for the first time in 2004's Vendée Globe race, which ended for Thiercelin when there was an accident on his boat.

The race starts next Saturday in Le Havre, France and ends in Salvador de Bahia, Brazil, about 4,350 nautical miles (5,000 statute miles) away.

--Bjorn Carey

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Credit: Th. Martinez