RTK GPS Race Management System Aims to Eliminate General Recalls
by New York Yacht Club 10 Oct 11:46 PDT
Resolute Cup racing © Paul Todd / www.outsideimages.com
To tackle one of sailing’s most tedious and frustrating issues—the general recall—the New York Yacht Club teamed up with top sailing electronics manufacturer Velocitek to develop the first centimeter-accurate starting-line management system intended for large fleets of 20 or more boats. This system was successfully utilized during the 2024 Resolute Cup and the 2024 IC37 North American Championship, performing flawlessly throughout all races.
“For over 175 years, the New York Yacht Club has led advancements in the sport of sailing,” stated Forrest Williams, chair of the Club’s Race Committee. “Few things consume more time in our sport than the painstaking process of hoisting the general recall flag and starting anew. Two years ago, we decided to collaborate with Velocitek to design a system to use in our major one-design regattas, such as the Rolex New York Yacht Club Invitational Cup and the Resolute—with our fleet of IC37s. We are finally reaping the benefits of that effort, and the wait was worthwhile.”
While GPS devices aiding in starting-line navigation and time-and-distance management have existed for some time, the implementation of separate systems on each boat led to numerous complications. The necessity to “ping” both ends of the line frequently resulted in hazardous pileups at the committee and pin ends. Even when linked to a race committee system, standard GPS devices did not provide the necessary precision for race officials to confidently call the line during significant events.
The fusion of GPS units with RTK technology—short for Real-Time Kinematic—which improves standard Global Navigation Satellite Systems signals with a correction stream from a local RTK base station (illustrated left) to achieve positional accuracy of 1.8 cm (or less), has facilitated the development of a comprehensive starting system that the race committee can completely manage. This base station can be set up either on a nearby shore (within 12 km) or on a race committee vessel.
For more details on RTK technology, click here.
“The 2024 Resolute Cup marks the first instance of RTK GPS being employed for race management outside of the America’s Cup and SailGP,” noted Alec Stewart, CEO of Velocitek. “It allows us to determine precisely where each boat is on the starting line, which is vital for making accurate and fair OCS calls. Over the past two years, we developed this system alongside the New York Yacht Club Race Committee, and we are eager about its future prospects in the sport.”
At the 2024 Resolute Cup, a boat-event sailed in Sonars and featuring amateur-only teams from 28 top yacht clubs, this system allowed the race committee to remotely activate the starting timer for all participants, provide teams with highly precise real-time data on their distance to the starting line, and, after the starting gun fired, swiftly identify and inform any competitors who were over the line at the start via a user-friendly interface (shown right).
The outcome was 22 highly competitive races over four days without any general recalls. Additionally, every boat that started prematurely was able to return and restart.
“For the starts, having accurate distance to the line and not needing to ping the ends of the line has been incredibly helpful,” stated Resolute Cup participant Michael Kirkman. “It saves time, allowing you to focus on other tasks. Plus, you know exactly where the line is; you can’t hide behind other boats, which creates a genuinely fair starting line. We faced no issues with it at the start.”
In the upcoming months, the system will undergo further refinement, aiming for Velocitek Live to be used in every IC37 regatta hosted by the Club in 2025 and in additional events.