VICTORIA – Yachting is a notoriously difficult sport for spectators to track. Unlike auto racing, where the vehicles keep coming by every couple of minutes or so, when ships go to sea, they all but vanish.
However, thanks to sophisticated satellite positioning transponders provided by FleetPoint and Rogers Wireless, when the 63rd Swiftsure International Yacht Race — Lightship Classic gets under sail today in the waters off Victoria, B.C., competitors, officials and fans will have a bird’s-eye view of the race,
For the first time, supporters, race enthusiasts, family members and friends on shore also can watch the progress of the boats over the course of the three-day event. Battery powered transponders on each boat will continuously determine their position using GPS satellites, and transmit that position, along with the direction and speed of the boat, over the Rogers Wireless network.
Boats at sea and everyone on shore can watch the progress of each of the Swiftsure contestants via the Internet at www.swiftsure.org/broadcast.
The technology is not limited to just spectator appeal as skippers now know exactly where their competition is, where they’re headed and how quickly.
Originally considered just a safety aid, many sailors have now discovered that transponders are much more than that, says the press release. In addition to enhancing safety, the devices allow much greater participation in the live action of sailing and actually improve performance, especially over moderate distances like the Swiftsure. The Lightship Classic, one of seven different races that make up the event known collectively as Swiftsure, is a 140 nautical mile race.
During this year’s Classic the boats will be receiving the data the same way as everyone else – on the Internet. At the start, the GPS position information can be used by the race committee to more accurately determine if boats are over the start line early (premature starters) and more accurately identify boats as they finish in the early hours of the morning, when sail numbers can be very hard to read.
On the race course the transponders will transmit position reports every three minutes. When the boats approach within one mile of the finish, their transponders will begin reporting every 30 seconds.
It also shows how Rogers and FleetPoint can track a fleet of anything, anywhere.
