The ground breaking features of this latest generation include a 48 hour operational battery life from the moment the PLB is activated (batteries last for five years while un-used) and operational temperatures as low as -20°C.

With prices coming down more and more yacht crews are realising the importance of carrying a personal distress beacon. The FastFind Max differs from a larger shipboard EPIRB, being barely bigger than a mobile phone.

This means it can be carried in an oilskin pocket so it’s there whatever happens - whether you fall overboard, or find yourself alone, in distress.

PLBs are not just for sailors. They can be carried as a safeguard anywhere in the world in a remote area, on land, sea or air, where there’s no other form of communication.

Ironically though, says McMurdo, one country that has yet to implement an infrastructure to support land based rescues is the UK, although McMurdo is contributing to a growing movement to lobby parliament to rectify this.

You can add your voice to an online government petition to by signing up to http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/personal-beacons/A PLB is registered with the authorities in the owner’s name so if it does have to be activated, it will transmit a unique identification signal along with the current position via the international search and rescue satellite system operated by COSPAS SARSAT on 406 MHz.

The signal is then quickly passed to regional search and rescue authorities who can rapidly get to the scene.

By now they will know who's in need of assistance and the registered data will provide next of kin details, who could give life saving information such as if there are other people in the crew to search for, or a medical condition.

McMurdo Ltd
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