High Performance Sailing Team Benefits from BISON C-Jacks

Elite sailing team Emirates Team New Zealand is a two time winner of the coveted America’s Cup and pioneer of foiling wing sailed catamarans – the most spectacular racing yachts you’ll see.

With their sights set firmly on winning back the America’s Cup in Bermuda this year, Team NZ faces a logistical challenge – relocating its base from Auckland to Bermuda and then shipping the base home when the regatta ends.

Needing a reliable, versatile and portable container weighing solution, Team NZ turned to BISON.

Watch this short video to see a yacht literally fly on water and hear how BISON C-Jacks work for a high performance team that demands only the best.

Challenge

Dispatching 60 containers halfway around the world is a huge logistical challenge. It’s an important journey – with the containers holding all the tools, infrastructure and equipment needed to support a competitive America’s Cup campaign.

With new SOLAS VGM rules to contend with, Team NZ needed a container weighing solution that would make the move to and from Bermuda as smooth as possible.

 “BISON Container scales are awesome. They are small, compact, on one trolley, and they’re easy to use.”

Weighing individual cargo items and calculating container weights was not an option, given the varied and bulky nature of the cargo. Weighing containers at a local weighbridge was not ideal from a timing perspective; the logistics team wouldn’t be able to check the container weight during loading, nor confirm if the container loads of variable, often heavy cargo were properly balanced.

It made much more sense for Team NZ to find a solution that could weigh containers early in the loading process and identify any problems before the containers left the base.

Dispatching the containers from Auckland wasn’t the biggest logistical challenge. A plan was needed for the return leg from Bermuda; a remote location with limited weighing infrastructure and weight limits applying to roads and small bridges on the island. Team NZ wanted to be one step ahead, with certified and portable weighing equipment ready to support the shift home.

Solution

Team NZ chose to incorporate BISON C-Jacks into their shipping operation. Over three months, the logistics team packed up the base and shipped containers to Bermuda, check weighing and capturing a certified VGM at their convenience.

Being compact and portable, the C-Jacks were packed into the last container, meaning Team NZ is now perfectly equipped to weigh all of their own containers when the base is shipped home.

Results

Team NZ now have one less thing to worry about in their mission to win back the America’s Cup. Container weight management is sorted. With BISON C-Jacks, Team NZ can check the container weight and load distribution during packing, they can generate a fully compliant VGM for SOLAS purposes at a time that suits them best, and they ensure that all container loads are optimised, well balanced and will not exceed road and bridge weight limits in Bermuda.

“The best thing is you can be out on the yard, you can weigh the container, and instantly you can email that to get captured, and be sent off to the shippers.”

Team NZ have solved their container weighing challenge for the move back from Bermuda. They are fully in control of their container weighing obligations in this remote location and don’t need to rely on local infrastructure. With BISON C-Jacks, the challenge of moving the base home will be much less complicated.

Technology and elite sport go hand-in-hand these days. High performance sailing is no exception. BISON C-Jacks have been embraced by Emirates Team NZ as world class weighing technology that is smart, innovative and makes container weighing simple and efficient.

BISON is proud to be an Official Team NZ Supplier and wishes the team well in their quest to bring the America’s Cup home.