The heat was on for world class sailors testing a new fire simulator in Sarisbury Green.
Vortec Marine Trainig fire simulator
Vortec Marine Training’s full-size fire and flood simulator, at Universal Marina, will test crews’ abilities in an emergency when faced with explosive scenarios at sea.
The two-storey unit has an engine room with an engine replica that ignites into 6ft flames, an aft cabin which can have water pumped in to simulate the hull being holed, and on the top level, a lifelike bridge complete with igniting navigation station, smoke machine and a range of alarms and sirens.
The simulator is designed to give students a real sense of an emergency, while being in a completely safe and controlled environment.
Olympic sailor Andy Beadsworth, who has also raced in the America’s Cup, joined fellow sailors Ian Budgen, Ian Moore and Jonny Malbon to put their skills to the test in the simulator.
Ian Moore said he had raced on 72ft yachts, won the Volvo Ocean Race twice and Americas Cup three times, but had not undertaken such an intense emergency training situation.
“Fire is something you don’t experience often,” said the 42-year-old from the Isle of Wight. “So going into a simulator like this suddenly makes it very real and makes it very obvious what the issues would be if it happened out at sea.
See the film of the simulator in action
“You suddenly realise how difficult it is to fight a fire and how disorientating it can be. Getting to experience the intensity of the fire in a closed situation makes it very real, and makes you realise how difficult it is to fight a fire and how important it is to have procedures in place.”
Round the world sailor Jonny Malbon, who raced in the Vendee Globe in 2008, admitted the experience was an eye-opener for him because he had never done the training before.
“It’s pretty sobering to think how many miles we’ve done as a group on so many different boats and personally I’ve never had any fire training,” said the 38-year-old from the Isle of Wight.
“Some boats we sail with have huge engines where something could cause a fire and you suddenly realise that situation could happen which is frightening. Without training the scariest problem you could have on a boat is fire.
“I’ve never thought how I’d handle a fire on a boat, especially if you’re the only person on a boat. This simulator gives you experience in how to do that. Everyone I’ll talk to I’ll recommend to come and do this.”
Ross Collingwood, Managing Director of Vortec Marine Training, said: “The best lessons are taught from experience and our ethos is to provide people with as much hands on experience and practice as we can.
“This unit will not only educate people on what to do in an emergency fire or flood situation, but prepare them for other effects and pressures that will be faced in this kind of scenario.
“We want to try to encourage other training centres to use it.”
The new fire simulator is going to be available as an optional extra to ISAF and Sea Survival courses as well as bespoke fire training courses.
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