Kopposite: istock/picsonstock
SUNSEEKER’S BLUSH: ONE HAPPY CUSTOMER
The 155-foot Sunseeker Blush launched in 2014. One year later, the yacht switched its VSAT
equipment, internet services and technical support to Excelerate. Blush’s captain calls the support
“fl awless,” and Blush is now one of three Sunseekers whose captains gave Excelerate testimonials
for marketing purposes. Aboard the 155-foot Sunseeker P r i n c e s s AV KK, Capt. Julian Sincock says the, Capt. Julian Sincock says the
company was able to “dramatically increase our broadband speeds at much lower cost.” The service,
he says, proved especially valuable during the summer, when lots of yachts needing broadband
access can jam networks. “I’ve just had my fi rst charter season ever without a single complaint from
our guests about their internet and TV experience any where we have cruised,” Sincock says.Sunseeker, Excelerate Z, packed it with
the company’s tech and showed it off
at the Cannes and Monaco boat shows
this past fall. This winter, the yacht
is docked at the Old Port in Cannes,
France, where the company is using
feedback from captains and owners to
make upgrades. Excelerate is also work-
ing toward expanding its service region,
possibly into the Caribbean
and United States, by year’s
end. ¶ The target market,
Savage says, is yachts 60
to 140 feet length overall,
where he believes Exceler-
ate off ers the kind of VSAT
access and more that su-
peryachts enjoy, but at less
cost. He fi gures that if his
company can keep commu-
nications up and running
from a mobile command
center in a relative war zone
— at a price that municipal
police and fi re services can
afford — then Excelerate
can do the same for smaller-
yacht owners off the coast of pretty
much any where. ¶ “There has to be
some changes in the industry to make
broadband by satellite the norm,” he
says. “My objective is to make it so that
broadband by satellite is as normal
on yachts as electricity. The pricing
will never be as low as electricity, but
we can get it down.” ¶ The company’sexisting interface is designed for lay-
men (a good cop, like a yacht captain, is
not necessarily an IT expert), so Savage
believes it can be tweaked for midrange
yacht owners and captains too. ¶ “This
interface brings together all of the
technologies that we provide — which
would improve communications, CCTV,
satcom and more — and either makes itreally easy for a normal human being to
use or makes it completely automated,”
he says. ¶ So far, six yachts from about
100 to 160 feet length overall, including
Sunseekers and Benettis, have installed
the Excelerate system, he says. So have
dozens of trawlers and workboats in the
North and Irish seas. ¶ Pricing plans
can refl ect actual usage as opposed to
f lat monthly fees. Yacht
owners pay only for the
access they use, instead of
a fl at monthly fee for max-
imum capacity at all times.
¶ “Small yachts, in a million
years, are not going to be
able to aff ord vast amounts
of bandwidth, so we’ve got
to provide bespoke pack-
ages,” Savage says. “There
are times when they don’t
want to use it much, there
are times when they don’t
want to use it at all, and
there are times when they
want to use it a lot.” ¶ The
Excelerate Z is expected to
be in the Med again this spring. Ocean
Independence helped Excelerate buy
the yacht, and the companies are look-
ing for other synergies to benefi t yacht
owners. ¶ “We are going to surprise
them,” Savage says, “about how cost-
eff ective satellite broadband can be.”Take the next step: excelerate-group.comTHE USER INTERFACE
Excelerate’s system lets yacht owners
or captains use an iPad to switch
from one network to another.
If 4G coverage is good, it can be
engaged. Or the system backbone can
switch to VSAT. The fl exibility
is designed to maintain access at the
lowest possible rate.CURRENTS NEW & NOTEWORTHYJANUARY 2018 YACHTING 17yacht owners off the coast of pretty
much any where. ¶ “There has to be
some changes in the industry to make
broadband by satellite the norm,” he
says. “My objective is to make it so that
broadband by satellite is as normal
on yachts as electricity. The pricing
will never be as low as electricity, but
we can get it down.” ¶ The company’sexisting interface is designed for lay-
men (a good cop, like a yacht captain, is
not necessarily an IT expert), so Savage
believes it can be tweaked for midrange
yacht owners and captains too. ¶ “This
inter face brings together a ll of the
technologies that we provide — which
would improve communications, CCTV,
satcom and more — and either makes itbe in the Med again this spring. Ocean
Independence helped Excelerate buy
the yacht, and the companies are look-
ing for other synergies to benefi t yacht
owners. ¶ “ We are going to surprise
them,” Savage says, “about how cost-
eff ective satellite broadband can be.”Take the next step: excelerate-group.com