Tour de France a la Voile chooses Nexus Instruments for new M34 fleet.

When the world’s first Tour de France à la Voile M34 race boat ‘Nexus Team Dean Barker’ is launched in April 2010, it will be equipped with the newly released Nexus XL20, a large-digit repeating instrument for high performance boats. In just a matter of months, there will be many more Tour de France à la Voile M34s on the water. And, in line with the one-design requirements of the event, there will be identical Nexus instrumentation on each of them.   Dean Barker, ambassador for the M34, built by Archambault and designed by the Joubert-Nivelt believes that Nexus NXR instruments provide a very stable platform for essential racing data. “The XL20 display unit completes the NXR range and the teams will find it fantastic once they discover what it can do”, said Barker. “Particularly useful is how crews can customise the information they get and how it’s displayed.” Designed for racing and cruising yachts, the XL20 features 45mm digits - larger than most instruments – so that crew can easily see vital data. The system also offers selectable red or green background lighting, to separate instruments and allow the crew to differentiate key datasets. It’s likely that Barker will lead a team in the 2011 Tour de France à la Voile, America’s Cup commitments permitting. As a shareholder in Barmac Ltd the company that recently acquired a majority shareholding in Nexus, he has a head start on familiarisation with Nexus instrumentation. However, to ensure a level playing field, Nexus will be providing all crew with training and support before and during the event. “Getting selected as the exclusive electronics supplier for the Tour de France à la Voile M34s is a huge tick for Nexus”, said Barker. “These boats and their equipment will lead the way to the future of one-design sailing”.