Going high tech

RYA used some top of the range kit at Skandia Sail for Gold

Live animated broadcasting of medal races on large onshore screens. That was a final day highlight of the 2008 Skandia Sail for Gold Regatta as the RYA and Race Officials made the most of the new Race-Trax boat tracking and race management system at the Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy (WPNSA) hosted event.

As part of an ongoing partnership between the RYA and EireTech, manufacturers of the Race-Trax GPS tracking system, the system can be used to help the race management team as well as provide live broadcasting of the racing on the web or as a feed to other media.

For the first time, Race-Trax, which transmits sub half metre positioning from competing boats, updated every second, supplied mark positions and live wind data from around the course to the onboard computer systems located on the Committee Boat. 

The OCS functionality of the system, whilst not being used to make final decisions, demonstrated that the introduction of technology for race officials, from which many other sports have benefited, is possible for sailing.

RYA Competitions Manager, David Campbell James, event director for Skandia Sail for Gold, said: “The RYA will continue to work with Race-Trax to develop the system’s race management potential and broadcast functionality at future events.

“We were very pleased with the continuing development at this year’s Sail for Gold regatta, which we hope to combine at next year’s Sail for Gold with a full mega screen television presentation with commentary on the shore and from the water for a full spectator experience.”