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Spain's Volvo Ocean Race team have been in Newcastle (UK) taking a course that all competitors are required by the organisers to take

Out in the middle of the ocean racing non-stop, night and day, one day after the next, always pushing for the top speeds on the fastest monohull in the world, there's no one out of danger's way. With that in mind, the Volvo Ocean Race organisers have made it a requirement for all crews racing in this eleventh edition of this challenging round the world regatta to complete a safety and survival course.

The eleven crew on "Telefónica", along with coach and head of the team's health department Iñigo Losada spent two days at the Marine Safety Training Centre in Newcastle (UK) on a course given by the company Ocean Safety.

Knowing how to react, from previous experience
The main aim of this 20-hour course is to give the Volvo Ocean Race competitors as much experience and information as possible about how to face certain dangerous situations and how to use certain equipment in case of an emergency, such as flares and life-rafts. In summary a series of techniques and knowledge to battle the elements in the most extreme situations.

At 8:30am in the UK the first day of the course kicked off with first aid theory and practice, which was very useful to remind the "Telefónica" crew how to act should a crew member require urgent medical attention, resuscitation or bandaging. There was also information on fire-fighting and classes on safety and survival at sea.

The second day of the course focussed on drills in the pool and the use of flares. In a cold water pool also able to simulate waves , the "Telefónica" crew were equipped with the survival suits they carry on board during the regatta. This will help the members of the Spanish team to have an idea of the procedure to follow in situations where they are in the water with the equipment on or when they have to launch life-rafts or create a compact group in the water.

A new experience for some, but not for others
Despite the fact that the "Telefónica" team notches up a total of 23 circumnavigations of the globe, for some this will be the very first Volvo Ocean Race. That's the case for one of the bowmen, Zane Gills, for whom this is the first course of this type.

"What most surprise me is the amount of things that we learned on this course that have actually happened in real life, as well as the experiences of the others and all of this helps when it comes to knowing how to react", said the 28 year old débutante.
For Zane this was "great training, as every bit of knowledge and experience in terms of facing an emergency situation is a benefit. It's one thing to talk about how to do something, but it's another to do it yourself, to get into a pool in a survival suit or to climb onto a life-raft and it's a valuable experience".

One of the most experienced members of the "Telefónica" crew is Spaniard Pepe Ribes who will be competing in his fifth round the world regatta and carried out the safety course for the fourth time. Despite his experience, Ribes says that the course has evolved, even since the previous edition of the race: "These courses evolve because so does safety. For example some of the first aid manoeuvres such as the 'man overboard' have changed. Whereas before the most important thing was not to lose sight of the man, now that's not the case as these boats go very fast, so they have had to adapt it".

So, despite the knowledge that many of those with multiple circumnavigations under their belts might have, in Pepe Ribes' opinion this course continues to give something to those who are going out onto the water to race: "It's good for us to learn from the experiences of the monitors giving the course and who work closely with many different teams to see what mistakes they made or what they did right. It helps us to be better prepared".

Back to the Team Telefónica base today.

With the course complete, this morning the crew of "Telefónica" set off from Newcastle Airport to Vigo, Spain. Once they are back on Spanish soil, the team members will head to the training HQ in Sanxenxo, along the estuary of Pontevedra. They are forecasted to arrive tonight and they will remain there until approximately mid-September.