Kings Coronation Sonnet

with thanks to Elizabeth Lavers, Poet at the Royal Thames Yacht Club, London

A solemn duty, not a personal choice —

For who would volunteer for such a post?

Closely observed, challenged by every voice

When retirement is the due reward for most.

For all these years a loyal, loving son

Until so recently — with us — bereaved.

History’s tide, unstopping, sweeps us on —

Problems to be addressed and goals achieved.

The daunting life-long task is not refused.

Fresh winds get up, old habits blow away,

Traditional ritual has new life infused,

New music is commissioned for today.

A Prince for so long. As summer follows spring

He takes his destined place.

God save the King!

We sincerely thank and salute Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II for her unfaltering dedication and service. Our thoughts are with the Royal Family at this time.

"On behalf of the Trustees and all the members of the Royal Institute of Navigation may I say how deeply saddened we are to learn of the death of Her Majesty the Queen. Our deepest sympathies go to all members of the Royal Family and our thoughts and prayers go to all those affected by this most distressing news." - Cynthia Robinson OBE FRIN, President of the RIN

We were privileged to be able to represent the Royal Institute of Navigation at the Service of Thanksgiving for the life of our Patron, HRH The Duke of Edinburgh, at Westminster Abbey on 29 March.   Where, to quote from the Service, "...we give thanks for His Royal Highness, a man of rare ability and distinction, rightly honoured and celebrated, he ever drew attention away from himself. He put privilege to work and understood his rank as a spur to service.  Working at pace, with so many claims on his attention, he encouraged us to focus, as he was focussed, on the things that matter.  His was a discipline and character that seized opportunity and overcame obstruction and difficulty."   The service also reminded us of his "astonishing intellectual and physical energy, his capacity for sheer hard work, his passionate commitment; his engaging and self-deprecating sense of humour."  He could, we were told, forget just how intimidating he could be, as he pricked bubbles of pomposity, as we can all recall from his probing questions at Annual Meetings!   He was described as "this remarkable man," and none could disagree with that.    But what remains is not just memories of his commitment to and abiding interest in the Royal Institute of  Navigation.  It is an example for all of us to follow, not merely in Positioning, Navigation and Timing, but in how we live our lives.  

Cynthia Robinson OBE FRIN                                                            James Taylor OBE FRIN
President                                                                                            Past President

Roger joined the Small Craft Group Committee of Royal Institute of Navigation in 2008 and enthusiastically embarked upon his initiative to represent RIN interests at the annual RYA shore-based Instructor conferences. In particular this included his great enthusiasm for the astro-navigation part of the Yachtmaster Ocean syllabus. 

Roger had attended the Board of Trade Yachtmaster Courses at the College of Navigation in the Minories, City of London, receiving both Coastal and Ocean certificates, as they were then known.  At that time the courses were hardly different from those taught for decades to merchant navy officers and fishing boat skippers; indeed, the Yachtmaster scheme, founded in 1873 to enable “gentlemen” to command their own large yachts, had been revived in the late 1930’s, basically to train prospective RNVR officers in the art of navigation (no sea time being required before the difficult oral exams).  I always suspected that Roger felt that any change must involve a “dumbing down” of the syllabus for us amateurs when he referred to the quality of teaching in the College of Navigation!  He was, of course, an instructor himself for the RYA Yachtmaster shore-based navigation courses, where he must have been an inspirational teacher, not just for those students who shared his enthusiasm, especially when explaining the Marc St Hilaire method of sight reduction!

He led on the RIN SCG proposals when the RYA decided to update the Ocean Course, which had not changed since the RYA took over responsibility for the qualification from the DoT in 1973, when the whole Yachtmaster scheme was in danger of being closed. More recently he reviewed the different Astro procedures used by the Royal Navy, the MCA and the RYA with articles on “The Astro Debate” in the RIN magazine “Navigation News” and in the SCG publication, “Fairway”.  He was very pleased to be appointed an FRIN in 2015 for his skills and service.

Advancing years caused Roger to step down from the SCG committee in early 2017 but he remained in contact as a “corresponding member” monitoring progress on the Guide to Electronic Navigation Systems which he had so enthusiastically supported.  He is missed by all of us at RIN.

1937-2022

It is with profound regret that I must inform you that I just learned that Langhorne Bond, former FAA Administrator and champion for eLoran passed away peacefully in his sleep last night. 

Langhorne was a unique and special person. I first met him in Montreal, where he “dropped in” at the Navigation Services Panel to hear my briefing on Loran. I was told before lunch that my briefing would be the second one on the agenda, following the introductory remarks of the German delegate, who had requested the meeting. Returning after the break, I was told that I would be the third, as Langhorne had asked to speak first. It was an interesting way to be introduced to the energy and determination that was Langhorne Bond, and the start of a personal friendship that has spanned over twenty years. 

Langhorne was kind and generous and supported Aviation in so many ways. As the FAA Administrator, he was responsible for the second generation Ground Based Navaids, which support the NAS to this day. He was responsible for the Tech Center building, and, to the chagrin of the designers, had it “rotated” so that the Director’s office overlooked the ACY runways (which unfortunately messed up the solar loading calculations and, thanks to the growth of the pine trees, no longer offers clear runway views). 

Langhorne was the product of his family, a part of which you can read about in the book “China’s Wings”. 

Langhorne, you will be missed. You brought a dedication and energy to everything you did. You set an example of what leadership should look like. You were, for me, most importantly a kind and giving friend and mentor. You will be missed.


Langhorne was one of the key sponsors of the Virginia Gold Cup Races. Every year he was quick to offer me tickets and access to the members are, an offer I accepted gratefully on a number of occasions. He also hosted many dinners at the Metropolitan Club in Washington for the Civil Air Navigation Services Organization (CANSO) and the Resilient Navigation and Timing Foundation (RNTF) and invited quite a few of us out to his house looking out on the Blue Ridge Mountains for drinks and food and, best of all, great conversations and cherished memories. I remember one time in London, following an RIN meeting at Church House, a dozen or so of us found a nice place to have a “proper dinner.” After hours of eating and drinking and laughing and comparing about bureaucracies and the like, Langhorne disappeared for a few minutes, returning with waiter carrying some appropriate nightcaps, after which time he spoke of his age and wished us all a good night.  In the end, when we were ready to depart and asked for the check, we were informed that “the gentleman had already settled the account.”


Langhorne was a great man, friend, mentor, and civil servant, whose guardianship of the FAA’s safety culture never waivered. A true example to all who followed and to those who hold positions of responsibility today. Longhorns never apologized for actions that ensured the safety of the aviation community and never let economic factors — not in the government sector and not in the private sector, impinged on FAA’s mission — to provide the safest, most efficient aerospace system in the world! I can only hope that those who take up his mantle will signify the position of authority trusted to them. Your job now is to watch over us from above and let your legacy help guide future generations of aviation regulators and service providers. Rest In Peace, my friend.


- A tribute from Mitch Narins

Read more about Langhorne's life and achievements here.

President:
Cynthia Robinson

Vice Presidents:
Martin Foulger       
Washington Ochieng

Treasurer:
Paul Hanna

Chair of the Technical Committee:
Bob Cockshott

Chair of the Membership & Fellowship Committee:
Adam Egeland-Jensen

Chair of the Audit & Risk Committee:
Phil Butlin

Other Members of Council:
Ana Basiri
Martin Bransby
Simon Gaskin
Alan Grant
Colette Jeffrey
Kate Jeffery
Andy Proctor
Andy Sage
James Taylor

Ex Officio Member:
Kathryn Buttle - Army

Immediate Past President:
Terry Moore

His navigation interests were focused mainly on technical developments in radio navigation technology.  He invented the Radio Lighthouse, which was patented and built by STL.  But, after deployment in several countries, the Radio Lighthouse, like many other systems, was overtaken by GPS.  So Rolf embraced GPS and became one of UK’s leading authorities on its implementation within maritime and aviation communities.

Much of his working life was based at STL, Harlow, where he was part of the team that created UK’s first military-grade GPS receivers and anti-jam antennas.  He led the navigation function at STL for some years, supporting customers in understanding the benefits of using GPS, whilst keeping a watchful eye on its vulnerabilities.  His team developed RAIM techniques and sophisticated modelling tools that supported civil aviation use of GPS, GNSS and augmentation systems.

He joined the Institute in 1967, becoming a Fellow in 1980 and receiving the Michael Richey Medal in 1993.  He authored many learned papers and guidance material on radio navigation and GPS for our conferences and the Journal, as well as for the US ION and other international fora.

We pass our condolences to Rolf’s family.

She became a Yachtmaster Examiner in 1994. She has conducted around 200 Yachtmaster exams and delivered as many RYA practical training courses as her weekends and holidays have permitted. She was elected to the RYA Board of Directors in 1999 and for a second term in 2004, when she was also elected to the RIN Board of Trustees and awarded the Fellowship of the Institute.

Cynthia was key to instigating the Institute’s Royal Charter, and has been outstanding in promoting the art, science and practice of navigation, making significant impact on the RYA and boating. After retiring in 2018 sand receiving an OBE for her work, Cynthia pursues her dream of ocean sailing, while remaining an active RYA instructor and examiner.

To see more about the RYA Volunteer Awards please visit: https://www.rya.org.uk/newsevents/news/Pages/awards-for-london-and-south-east's-unsung-heroes.aspx

Lieutenant Commander Alan Peacock MSc RN FRIN, who has died aged 71 after a lengthy battle with mesothelioma, was a deep specialist in Navigation – otherwise known as a ‘Dagger N’ – who became renowned when he was Staff Officer (Navigation) to Flag Officer Sea Training, or FOST, for the strict rigour with which he conducted his assessments of ships’ bridge teams and navigation departments. Careers often hinged on his opinion. His reputation spread not only throughout the Royal Navy, but also through many European NATO navies that sent their ships to be trained by FOST.

It was said that in the course of quizzing an Officer of the Watch in a ship about the Rules of the Road, he quoted some advice given in Cockroft and Lameijer’s Guide to the Collision Avoidance Rules. When the ship’s CO retorted that until the said book was recognised by the MOD as a proper Book of Reference (BR), he did not consider it to be official guidance. Whereupon Peacock set about getting it incorporated as a BR and added to every ship’s mandatory outfit of publications.

Alan was educated at Trent College, Nottingham, and he joined the Royal Navy as a Cadet at Britannia Royal Naval College, Dartmouth in 1966. After gaining his bridge watchkeeping and ocean navigation tickets he qualified as a Principle Warfare Officer in 1975 before completing the Navigation long course in 1977. After a number of seagoing navigation appointments, including Squadron Navigation Officer to the 8th Frigate Squadron in HMS AJAX, he passed the Advanced Navigation Sea Check in 1983 thus qualifying as a ‘Dagger N’, an achievement of which he was very proud. A variety of sea and shore appointments followed, among them HMS HERMES, Senior Officer of the Navigation school, and Deputy Queen’s Harbour Master, Portsmouth.

He had a sharp intellect, an enquiring mind, meticulous attention to detail, and would put heart and soul into any job or task he took on. These qualities suited him very well to the two main jobs he did after retiring from the RN in 1998. Firstly, he was the Naval Staff Author with responsibility for the Admiralty Manual of Navigation; this publication ran to several volumes, each badly in need of a complete re-write, which he duly achieved. Then, in 2011 he was appointed as Editor of the Journal of Navigation, a position he only held for about eighteen months before being forced to retire following a stroke. Nevertheless, within that short time he was able to increase the Journal’s output significantly, as well as establish the Editorial Advisory Board. Subsequently, even in ill health he was a ready fount of navigational knowledge, generously responding to often complex mathematical queries.

Alan Peacock joined the Royal Institute of Navigation in 2000, and was elected Fellow in 2009. He was also a Fellow and Council member of the Nautical Institute. He had enormous affection for the Royal Navy, and will be missed by his many colleagues and friends.

The family will hold a private funeral on 22 April 2020; a celebration of Alan’s life will be held at a future date. He leaves a widow, Maureen, and a daughter, Katherine.

Alan S Peacock 4 November 1948 to 7 April 2020.

John Kerr was born in 1937, educated at a primary school in Preston and a new grammar school near Manchester, entered Britannia Royal Naval College, Dartmouth in 1954 and was commissioned in 1957 (He graduated in first place, for which he was awarded HM the Queen’s Gold Medal). He retired from the Navy in 1994.

A navigation specialist, he taught the subject at both Dartmouth and, as the first British Exchange Officer, at the United States Naval Academy, Annapolis. He held a wide range of sea appointments, initially responsible for navigation and operations. Subsequently he commanded the frigate ACHILLES, the guided missile destroyer BIRMINGHAM and the aircraft carrier ILLUSTRIOUS. He was later a sea-going Admiral responsible for the operational effectiveness of some 40 ships, together with oversight of operations in the Gulf during the Iran-Iraq war period.

In parallel with these operational tasks there were appointments in the Ministry of Defence to the most senior level principally concerned with strategy and policy, including the size and shape of the Navy, the future equipment programme, the allocation of resources, and intelligence (the last at the busy time of the collapses of the Soviet Union and the Warsaw Pact, the independence of Eastern European states and the first Gulf War). His final appointment was as Commander-in-Chief Naval Home Command (responsible for non-operational activity throughout the United Kingdom, including the Reserves, training establishments, the naval bases, and links with universities) and as a member of the Admiralty Board during a period of great change in the early 1990s. In this post his flagship was HMS VICTORY, used for representational and ceremonial purposes and where he and his wife gave dinners in Nelson’s Great Cabin.

Since retiring from the Royal Navy John Kerr has been involved at various times in a range of activities including being a member of the Central Committee of Management of the RNLI; Commissioner of the Museums and Galleries Commission; member, then chairman, of the Manchester Museum Committee; and Commissioner, then Vice-Chairman, of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. He has also been heavily involved with universities, including being on the governing body at Lancaster, then at the Victoria University of Manchester. He was a member of the small group which took forward the merger in 2004 of UMIST and the Victoria University, and was appointed the Pro-Chancellor of the resulting University of Manchester from which he retired in 2012 (he was awarded the University’s Medal of Honour). He has also been a member of separate national Independent Reviews dealing with major aspects of personnel matters in the Services, and pay and conditions of service in the Higher Education sector. By way of contrast in 2007 he was appointed by the Secretary of State at DEFRA to membership of the Lake District National Park Authority, and was then its Deputy Chairman until retirement in 2011.
He was awarded the KCB in 1989, advanced to the GCB in 1993 and appointed a Deputy Lieutenant for Lancashire in 1995. In 2008 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Institute of Navigation in recognition of his contribution to safe navigation during his service with the Royal Navy and subsequently as an offshore yachtsman. He and his wife Anne (a musician, who is also involved in the voluntary and not-for-profit sectors) live near Kirkby Lonsdale. Interests include sailing, travel, music, fell walking and matters historical.

In Sir John's his own words:

'Since retiring in 1994 I have been busy with a wide range of jobs and activities, such as the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, the Museums and Galleries Commission, the RNLI Central Committee of management, the Lake District National Park Authority and in various roles in universities, including being the Pro-Chancellor at Manchester for the last 8 years. I have now genuinely retired from these organisations.

I was elected a Fellow of the Royal Institute of Navigation in 2008 and am a fairly active member of its Scottish branch which has provided the opportunity for visits to ships and submarines (and airport control facilities) to see modern navigational features. I am also a member of the Fleet Air Arm Officers’ Association, based on my carrier experience. My wife and I sailed on the west coast of Scotland (and, for one season, in South Brittany) for ten years, mainly in a Vancouver 34. We logged nearly 10,000 miles in that time. Age has now caught up with us and we no longer sail regularly (and the boat has been sold).

There are inevitably chunks of my history which I had to leave out because of lack of space: one which might be of interest is that i was the Commodore of the Royal Naval Sailing Association during the period I was also CINCNAVHOME (1991 – 1994) after which I was appointed a Life Vice Commodore. I’m not active in that role, although my wife and I did a lot of sailing off the west coast in Scotland after retirement. Age has curtailed us in recent years!'

The funeral will be held at 11am on Saturday 14th December at St Mary’s Church, Kirkby Lonsdale. Friends of Sir John are welcome to join the family there, as well as in the Royal Hotel for drinks and light food afterwards. They ask that no flowers to be sent; instead if desired please make donations to one of the charities that were close to Sir John's heart – the Ocean Youth Trust Scotland and the Borders Forest Trust.

In 1974 the International Maritime Organization (IMO) published a new edition of the International Convention on the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS). This greatly increased the requirements for the mandatory carriage of navigation equipment on merchant ships. Previously the 1960 SOLAS had requirements limited to a signalling lamp and a direction finder. Now, additionally, there were requirements to carry a magnetic compass, a gyro compass, radar, echo sounder, speed and distance equipment and indicators.

The new SOLAS also introduced a new obligation on Governments to type approve the navigational equipment against standards developed by the IMO. Peter was asked to set up a facility for the UK which he did at Fraser Range which had been a torpedo range at Eastney near Southsea. Fraser did all the UK type approvals until the process was privatised in the 1990s.

A difficulty in all this for manufacturers was that the IMO standards did not include much detailed technical parameters which resulted in the different Governments specifying different equipment designs for their ships. The manufacturers association, CIRM, was campaigning for common technical standards which could be accepted internationally and this resulted in the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) setting up a new technical committee (TC80) in 1980 to develop technical standards for navigational instruments. TC80 quickly proved its worth and the IEC standards became accepted by Governments.
In 1986 the Secretary post of TC80 became vacant and Peter was invited to take on the role upon his retirement from the Royal Naval Scientific Service. He in fact held the post for the next 11 years.

Peter then took a role of assisting the radar manufacturers with negotiations in the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) concerning radio spectrum issues. ITU was studying acceptable levels of interference from radars which threatened radar performance. When this was successfully resolved another problem arose of interference to radars, due to the increasing amount of spectrum being made available for mobile telephone systems. Bands adjacent to the radar bands were under consideration. Peter continued to assist the radar manufacturing companies in this exercise until his 90th year.

He leaves a daughter and a son and a long-term partner.

His funeral is on 25th July at 1.45 at the Wessexvale Crematorium Southampton SO32 2UA. His family has requested donations to the Royal Institute of Navigation, a registered charity. The Institute's bank details may be found via the following link.

Kim Fisher

Image Credit: The Clipper Race (Twitter: @ClipperRace)

Britain’s leading sailors are paying tribute to Sir Robin Knox-Johnston FRIN today on the 50th anniversary of the date, 22 April 1969, that he entered history books as the first person to ever sail solo, non-stop around the world.

Image Credit: Sir Robin Knox-Johnston FRIN taken in 1969 (Twitter: @SirRKJ)

Sir Robin and his 32-ft yacht from that voyage, Suhaili, which has been lovingly hand-restored, along with a support flotilla, are heading back to the same spot on the water in Falmouth Harbour today to re-create the exact time, 1525, when he crossed the finish line of The Sunday Times Golden Globe Race and returned home to scenes of national jubilation after 312 days alone at sea.

Leading round the world yachtswoman Dee Caffari commented: “We often talk about the achievement of being the first man on the moon, and I think you can make a very similar comparison to Sir Robin for sailing around the world. He created that first non-stop sail that nobody thought was possible. It hadn’t been done until he completed it and he laid that pathway for all of us to follow.”

Inspired by Sir Francis Chichester, who had sailed around the world but had stopped in Australia, there was one achievement left in Robin’s mind; to be first to go solo, non-stop. He faced huge challenges in his quest to complete the unknown. Not only during the journey itself but also from sceptics. Could it actually be done? Would the boat hold up? Wouldn’t you go mad? How long would it take? Was Robin the man to achieve this feat?

Image Credit: Sir Robin Knox-Johnston FRIN taken in 2019 (Twitter: @SirRKJ)

Read more:

Sir Robin Knox-Johnston FRIN recorded a documentary with BBCRadio 4 talking about the story of his record breaking trip in 1969, where he became the first person to perform a single-handed non-stop circumnavigation of the globe.

On 14 June 1968 Robin Knox-Johnston left Falmouth in his 32-foot (9.8-metre) boat Suhaili, one of the smallest boats to enter the Sunday Times Golden Globe Race. The other seven competitors dropped out at various stages, leaving Knox-Johnston to win the race and become officially the first person to circumnavigate the globe non-stop and single-handed on 22 April 1969, the day he returned to Falmouth.

This documentary is celebrating his 50th Anniversary and was recorded on March 14 2019. To listen to the podcast please do Click Here

The north magnetic pole is moving, fast. So quickly in fact, that scientists decided to release an update of where magnetic north really is, nearly a year ahead of their usual five-year schedule.

This week, Ian Sample talks to Dr Ciaran Beggan of the British Geographical Survey about why he and a team of scientists track the north magnetic pole and what its rapidly changing trajectory is telling us. He then welcomes Dr John Blake FRIN to talk us through the history of how humans through the ages navigated on the seas.

Image Credit: Mansell./Time & life Pictures/ Getty Images

 Listen to the Podcast here: 

 https://www.theguardian.com/science/audio/2019/feb/08/where-on-earth-is-north-science-weekly-podcast?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

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The IAIN General Assembly has announced that, with immediate effect, the following will serve as Officers of the Association for the term 2018-21:  

President:
John Pottle FRIN - Royal Institute of Navigation (RIN)

Immediate Past President:    
Prof Yasuo Arai - Japan Institute of Navigation (JIN)

Senior Vice President:    
Prof Youfang Huang - China Institute of Navigation (CIN)

Vice President:        
Capt Hesham Helal - Arab Institute of Navigation (AIN)
        
Vice President:    
Prof Krzyzstof Czaplewski - Polish Institute of Navigation (PNF)         

Vice President:        
Prof JoongWoo - Korean Institute of Navigation (KINPR)
    
Treasurer:            
Tom Willems - Netherlands Institute of Navigation (NIN)

Secretary General:        
Lt Cdr Simon Gaskin FRIN FNI RN - Royal Institute of Navigation (RIN)

For many years, the IAIN Treasurer and Secretary General have been furnished by NIN and RIN respectively, and this continues.  The President is normally provided by the institute hosting the next triennial IAIN World Congress, and this also continues - the IAIN 2021 World Congress will be combined with the Institute's International Navigation Conference in Edinburgh on 15-18 November 2021.

We offer our congratulations to the newly-appointed and continuing Officers.

www.iainav.org

Professor Terry Moore, Director of the Nottingham Geospatial Institute (NGI), has been named the new President of the Royal Institute of Navigation (RIN). 

A longstanding Fellow of the RIN, Professor Moore has previously been its Vice President on three occasions. As President, Professor Moore will work closely with the Director to run the Institute and chair the elected Council; the executive, decision-making body on the RIN and trustees of the charitable status of the RIN. 

Professor Moore took up his new post on Tuesday 10 July, following his election during the Annual General Meeting, held at the Royal Geographical Society in London.

Link: https://www.nottingham.ac.uk/news/pressreleases/2018/july/nottingham-sat-nav-expert-named-president-of-the-royal-institute-of-navigation.aspx

London, UK - 10 July 2018, Chronos Technology has been recognised by the Royal Institute of Navigation with the RIN’s 2018 Duke of Edinburgh’s Navigation Award for Outstanding Technical Achievement in “Recognition of technical excellence and authority in satellite navigation and timing vulnerabilities and mitigations”.

Professor Charles Curry FRIN, Founder and Managing Director of Chronos Technology, received the award at the RIN Annual General Meeting held today in London.

Chronos has worked with the RIN and others since 2008 to raise awareness of GNSS vulnerabilities, and in collaboration with the University of Bath, has developed a family of GNSS interference detection products.

Chronos first started researching this phenomenon with the University of Bath in the Innovate UK project GAARDIAN in 2008, closely followed by the SENTINEL and AJR projects. The projects have focused on detecting and locating commercial off-the-shelf jammers mostly sourced from Chinese websites. The first success was seizing the so called “Girvan Jammer” in 2011 when a jammer was recovered from a commercial van driver through collaboration with the serious and organised crime group of the local police. This exercise took about two weeks from initial detection to recovery of the jammer and should be compared to the six months it took US Enforcement Agencies to identify the so called “Newark Jammer”.

SENTINEL sensors which were originally rolled out in 2010 continue to provide real evidence of jamming at various locations around the UK. The project assists police work by collating jamming events by day, and time of day using a cloud based portal.

The GPS interference detection portfolio includes low-cost, hand-held GNSS interference detectors with features such as data logging and direction finding capabilities to precisely pinpoint a jammer. The latest product to emerge is known as “JammerCam” and is the first GPS jamming detector in the world to be able to take photographs of a moving vehicle which is carrying a GPS jammer. This is now in trials with various local police forces and is photographing vehicles with jammers on a daily basis providing real time actionable intelligence to the law enforcement officers’ smartphones identifying vehicle type, colour and number plate.

Early trials with this research are leading to the seizing of at least one jammer per week by UK Law Enforcement Agencies.

Chronos has demonstrated the ability to work with universities and potential users to develop new, affordable products to meet a genuine need. Customers include UK and international law enforcement agencies and military users.

John Pottle, Director of the Royal Institute of Navigation, noted: “This is a very prestigious award, as a look at the previous winners will attest. Chronos is very well respected and has continued to innovate, achieving global influence from their UK base. Many congratulations to all at Chronos for this well-deserved recognition”.


Prof Curry, who was awarded Fellowship of the Royal Institute of Navigation in 2016 in recognition of his significant and continuing contribution to the practical aspects of time measurement and dissemination, including research into GNSS vulnerabilities and the use of eLoran for precise time, said “Chronos is honoured to be the recipient of the RIN’s 2018 Duke of Edinburgh’s Navigation Award for Outstanding Technical Achievement. We could not have done this without our close association with the University of Bath, in particular Dr Robert Watson and Prof Cathryn Mitchell and their colleagues in the Electrical & Electronic Faculty.” He added, “Over the years this association has enabled Chronos to undertake research and bring to the market GPS jamming detection products which have been thoroughly field tested at locations such as Sennybridge in the Brecon Beacons, and other international jamming trials in Norway and USA. In particular, Chronos was the only British company to be invited to JamX17 in Idaho Falls, USA by the US Department of Homeland Security to showcase the detectors’ technology.”

http://www.chronos.co.uk/index.php/en/

Honorary Officers

A handshake to hand over the Presidency (Prof Terry Moore and Capt. James Taylor OBE). Image credit: Rob Lacey

President

Terry Moore

Vice Presidents

Kate Jeffery

Rod Angel

Chair, Audit and Risk Committee

Phil Butlin

Appointments to Council

Alan Grant
Paul Hanna
Serdjo Kos
Robert Orr
Dag Pike
Simon Gaskin

Certificates of Achievement

• Shaesta Waiz for the Dreams Soar project, notably her achievement flying around the world solo and project focus of inspiring girls that they can be pilots and STEM professionals
  
  See: http://dreamssoar.org/ 
• David Hempleman Adams for Polar Ocean Challenge:
  Navigating the North East and North West Passages in a single season for the first time in a metal-hulled yacht
  
  See: http://polarocean.co.uk/ 
• Christopher Telfer, Head of Physics, and James Styles, Head of Chemistry, Epsom College, for their inspiring work on extra curricula STEM activities for balloon tracking and self-steering model yacht
  

TopNav

For the full list of TopNav results please see https://rin.org.uk/news/405372/TopNav-results-released.html

Fellowship FRIN

• Stephen Austin - In recognition of his contribution to the safety of maritime operations and navigation through the development and implementation of national and international policy and technical standards 
• Mark Dumville - In recognition of his leading role in detecting and countering GNSS interference
• Glen Gibbons - In recognition of his globally respected journalism, raising awareness and sharing knowledge of GNSS
• Steve Guest - In recognition of his contribution to the advancement of safe navigation at sea
• Anthony Haddrell - In recognition of his leading role in developing consumer-grade GNSS technology for mobile devices
• Rakesh Pandit - In recognition of his long-standing contribution to international organisations on maritime safety and his active role in education on this subject
• Air Commodore E W Tyack - In recognition of his contribution over many years to aeronautical navigation, flight trials and national defence policy formulation
• Frank van Diggelen - In recognition of his innovative contributions to the science, technology and availability of mass-market GNSS
• Tom Willems - In recognition of his contribution to the development and support of Galileo Test User Segment receivers during the Galileo in-orbit validation phase 
• Brian Williamson - In recognition of his work on improving resolution of marine navigation disputes

JED Williams Silver Medal

For an outstanding contribution to the affairs of the institute

• David Goddard - In recognition of his diligence in proactively improving governance of the Institute in relation to risk management, succession planning and professional registration
• Roger McKinley - In recognition of thought leadership in resilient PNT and new technologies, notably Quantum and Blackett reviews; and broad promotion of RIN

Richey Medal

Best paper in The Journal of Navigation (2017)

Professor J Kemp (posthumous)

The Cinderella Navigation Aid:
The Use of the Lead and Line in British Ships From the 16th to 20th Century
Journal of Navigation Volume 70, p671

Duke of Edinburgh’s Navigation Award for Technical Achievement

Chronos Technology Ltd - In recognition of technical excellence and authority in satellite navigation and timing vulnerabilities and mitigations
Professor Charles Curry
Managing Director

14 June sees 50 years to the day since Institute Fellow Sir Robin Knox-Johnson set out from Falmouth in his yacht ‘Suhaili’ on his solo round-the-world endeavour.

This week has seen him back at his departure point, Falmouth, to kick off anniversary celebrations of his endeavour and meet many of the competitors in this year's Golden Globe race, with whom he joked “I’ve been warned not to take part. I've done it 4 times now, but I don't think I'll be tempted to follow them this year."

On 14 June 1968, Sir Robin set out at the start of the Sunday Times Golden Globe Race in an attempt to become the first man to complete a solo non-stop circumnavigation. He commented this week "There wasn't even a marina when I was last here, I was out on a mooring. Falmouth hadn't developed as a sailing centre very much at that time. Now, 50 years on, just look at it!"

Sir Robin’s epic voyage took 312 days, with little communication with the outside world. His only contact medium, the radio, had malfunctioned within 2 months, and it wasn’t until he was off the shores of New Zealand that he discovered that he was in the lead - and that only 4 of the 9 participants were still in the race. His next contact with the outside world was off the Azores, where he gave Falmouth an ETA ‘within 2 weeks’.

And on 22 April 1969, Sir Robin entered Falmouth Harbour as the sole finisher and hero - leaving behind him a trail of broken boats and spirits.

In all, 18 sailors are due to enter this year's Golden Globe Race. Celebrations start with a Parade of Sail around Falmouth Harbour, led by Sir Robin in Suhaili - at 1030 BST on 14 June.

Sir Robin concluded ”I’m enjoying being in Falmouth, as it's going back to the days of adventure sailing with the Golden Globe race . . and they're doing it on boats that the average person can buy; they probably don't cost any more than a caravan."

https://www.cornwalllive.com/news/cornwall-news/legendary-sailor-sir-robin-knox-1663002
Cornwall Live

It is with great sadness that we report that Norman Dahl has died at the age of 85.

Norman attended the Royal Naval College, Dartmouth, from 1947 and served in the Royal Navy on cruisers and destroyers, including service in Korea, before joining the Submarine Service in 1954.

On retirement from the RN in 1960, he became involved in printing, publishing, journalism and computer design, but was also an offshore racing navigator, becoming Director of Oyster World Sailing Ltd, a yacht charter company and sailing school on the East Coast. He was a RYA instructor and ocean yachtmaster and was author of the authoritative ‘Yacht Navigator’s Handbook’, published in 1983.

Norman joined the Institute in 1968, becoming a Fellow in 1987. He joined the Technical Committee in 1983 and formed the Small Craft Group in 1985, chairing the Group for its first five years. He was Institute Vice-President in 1988, becoming President from 1990 to 1993 – the first President whose primary interest in navigation was as a yachtsman and sailing instructor.

The Dahl family had moved to Australia in later years, and Norman died in Brisbane on 31 May, just six days before his 85th birthday. We pass our condolences to his wife, Jo, and family.

Norman Bellew Dahl 6 June 1933 – 31 May 2018