Matt Knighton wins Inmarsat Onboard Reporter Award

28 June 2015: Matt Knighton, Onboard Reporter for Volvo Ocean Race 2014-15 champions and In-Port Series winners Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing, has won the acclaimed Inmarsat Onboard Reporter Award, celebrating the most challenging sports journalism job in the world.

After a gruelling nine months at sea, delivering video, photographs and blogs back to shore, the €20,000 cash prize and coveted trophy were presented to Knighton at the Race's finale Gala Dinner in Gothenburg on Saturday 27 June by Inmarsat's CEO, Rupert Pearce.

Judged on creativity, quality and story-telling, the runners-up, Amory Ross from Team Alvimedica and Sam Greenfield from Dongfeng Race Team, were also presented with their €8,000 cash prizes at the gala dinner by Rupert Pearce.

Hard work

"I am delighted that the work of all nine talented OBRs, seen by a global audience of millions, has been made possible by Inmarsat's global satellite network," said Rupert Pearce, CEO, Inmarsat.

"The journey of each team has reached us on shore for the past nine months and that would simply not be possible without our reliable, global communications network and the grit, determination and hard work of the Onboard Reporters.

"They have had the responsibility of documenting everything on their journey and for telling the stories of their teams while facing tremendously harsh conditions. We congratulate Matt on this phenomenal achievement and celebrate the success of Amory and Sam, and all of the Onboard Reporters, this evening."

Vital connectivity

Inmarsat's network made the race and the communications possible by providing each of the seven race teams with vital connectivity throughout the duration of the race.

It's through Inmarsat's FleetBroadband 250 and FleetBroadband 500 that the Onboard Reporters were able to share every moment of the race with fans and followers at home.

Knut Frosted, CEO, Volvo Ocean Race said: "The work of the OBRs is pivotal to all communications for the race. Without them, we simply couldn't tell the story of the sailors as they take on this incredible challenge so many miles from land.

Multi-talented professionals

"The OBRs need to be diplomats and cheerleaders for the crews, as well as multi-talented, cross-media professionals, as they share the adventure of the Volvo Ocean Race over nine, grueling months.

"The quality of the content produced by the OBRs speaks for itself, reaching millions of fans and casual race followers worldwide. I congratulate Matt Knighton, Amory Ross and Sam Greenfield on their hard-earned but very well deserved success."

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