{"id":765,"date":"2026-05-12T14:43:55","date_gmt":"2026-05-12T14:43:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/yachtersworld.com\/?p=765"},"modified":"2026-05-12T14:43:55","modified_gmt":"2026-05-12T14:43:55","slug":"can-smart-systems-save-club-racing-the-latest-technology-that-could-make-yacht-racing-faster","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/yachtersworld.com\/?p=765","title":{"rendered":"Can smart systems save club racing? \u2013 The latest technology that could make yacht racing faster"},"content":{"rendered":"

Andy Rice explains the latest technology that could make yacht racing smarter, easier, and less reliant on volunteers<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Racing
Visual sighting the line to call boats OCS is automated. Photo: Paul Todd\/outsideimages.com\/NYYC<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

We\u2019re all time poor. The word \u2018pastime\u2019 is barely still in modern usage, because we simply don\u2019t need ways of passing the time \u2013 instead we\u2019re seeking to carve out small chunks of leisure in our ever-busier schedules. And that has made it harder and harder for us to justify time-intensive activities like a long weekend of yacht or dinghy<\/a> racing.<\/p>\n

Michael Morin is a lifelong sailor who is committed to helping find solutions to this challenge. While the digital revolution has been a large cause of the problem, Morin believes new technology can help alleviate it too.<\/p>\n

\u201cI belong to Bayview Yacht Club in Detroit. We have probably just as many boats in the harbour as we have ever had,\u201d he says. \u201cActually, we have more boats in our harbour because we expanded our harbour more than 10 years ago. But when I began sailboat racing 40-some years ago, we had twice as many boats on the racecourse as we have today.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"MarkSetBots\n

MarkSetBots being towed out to course. They have electric motors to hold station or change position. Photo: Paul Todd\/outsideimages.com\/NYYC<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

He believes one reason is that sailing is just too time consuming. \u201cYou get out and you\u2019re waiting for your race to start; then it starts and you get a general recall\u2026 If you\u2019re involved in a regatta it just takes up so much time. People are time-poor and it is a real problem for families. So, while there are more boats in the Bayview harbour, there are fewer people who are racing every Wednesday, every Tuesday, every Saturday.<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause there are fewer people racing<\/a>, there are fewer volunteers. We have ageing volunteers and fewer people offering to volunteer. That\u2019s a real big struggle for clubs.\u201d<\/p>\n

Today Morin is the director of sales and marketing for MarkSetBot, a company founded by his son, Kevin, in 2014 producing robotic, motor-powered racing marks. Kevin is a member at Pontiac Yacht Club in Michigan, where every sailor is required to do race committee duties twice a year.<\/p>\n

Setting a course in areas of the lake that are particularly deep, Kevin reckoned if he could come up with a way of replacing the mark-laying boat, each sailor would only need to volunteer once a year. MarkSetBot was born and has been developed through more than 600 iterations to the point where these remote-controlled marks are now used in SailGP, the America\u2019s Cup, Olympic classes and many more.<\/p>\n

\"People\n

The J\/70 class has adopted the Vakaros system after being plagued by general recalls at many championship events. Photo: Douglas Wake\/Vakaros<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

MarkSetBots are inflatable buoys with their own propulsion, battery powered engine and integral GPS. They have no anchor, removing the need for mark layers. They can carry sensors for wind data, and even be fitted with horns to automate the start sequence or signal course changes.<\/p>\n

They can also be moved mid-race if the wind shifts, can hold position against most states of wind and tide, and can be controlled remotely from either a committee vessel or onshore.<\/p>\n

Simon Nearn, president of the Australian 18 Footers League in Sydney, is a big fan of the MarkSetBots.<\/p>\n

\"Aerial\n

The electronic marks can be used for a whole course or to supplement traditionally laid\/fixed marks. Photo: Paul Todd\/outsideimages.com\/NYYC<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re into our second season and we love them,\u201d he says. \u201cOur race officers love them because they can sit in the bar on their mobile phone and say, \u2018I want to put the marks here, here, and here,\u2019 and the marks will go there.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is a cost element. Because we rent them at the moment, we\u2019re thinking about whether we should own them. But then we\u2019ve got to store them, and that\u2019s a logistical hassle.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut from a race management perspective, they\u2019ve been a bloody beauty, especially with handicap races. You can adjust them: \u2018Oh, the wind\u2019s got a bit lighter, let\u2019s make the marks a bit closer and keep the race running.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Vakaros\n

Vakaros Atlas 2. Photo: Douglas Wake\/Vakaros<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Mobile marks for yacht racing<\/h2>\n

Race time and efficiency is even more vital on the SailGP global circuit. With a strict 90-minute broadcast window for SailGP events, the movable marks are an essential part of the setup, enabling principal race officer Iain Murray (a former 18ft Skiff champion) and his team to shrink, expand or rotate the course axis depending on the shifting strength or direction of the breeze.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not a flawless system. At the Sydney SailGP event in early March Australian skipper Tom Slingsby complained: \u201cYou\u2019ve got a minute to go and you\u2019ve got your spot on the start and you see the [robot] start mark just take off.\u201d That\u2019s not usually the fault of the technology so much as a race official moving the mark a bit too late into the sequence, but it\u2019s something to be aware of.<\/p>\n

\"smaller\n

Smaller Edge units. Photo: Douglas Wake\/Vakaros<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

There are other learning curves with the robotic marks, as Nearn points out.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere have been some funny incidents where somebody drags the mark. Imagine the guy in front of you hits it and drags it. Now you\u2019ve got to go around it, but that mark starts motoring back to where it\u2019s supposed to be. You\u2019re now coming in on your starboard layline into a moving mark because it\u2019s trying to motor upwind to its designated GPS location. There are some funny foibles to using these marks, but overall the experience is really positive.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hands-free package<\/h2>\n

In recent years MarkSetBot has been collaborating closely with instrument manufacturer Vakaros. Launched in 2016 by sailors Jake Keilman and Todd Wilson, Vakaros is one of the more prominent players in a market saturated with GPS-enabled products designed to help sailors track their personal data and performance on the water.<\/p>\n

The Vakaros system combines a race management app with dedicated hardware units. It provides both competitors and the race committee with an automated start countdown and instant OCS alerts, as well as performance data and live tracking via the onboard compass\/timer units.<\/p>\n

It removes the need for race committees to manually identify and record boats that are over early at the start, as it automatically records who is over the line and who has dipped back, and also records finish time\/positions.<\/p>\n

\"MarkSetBots\n

MarkSetBots reduce the need for mark-laying volunteers and can be controlled by smartphone app.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Transformational technology<\/h2>\n

While at first glance a Vakaros Atlas 2 unit might look expensive at just under \u00a31,000, co-founder Wilson says some classes see the cost more than offset by the improvement in their sailing experience (there is a smaller Edge model, which can also be rented as a package for events).<\/p>\n

\u201cA good example is the J\/70 class where people put a value on their time and enjoyment in the sport, and on avoiding the common frustrations of the sport,\u201d says Wilson. \u201cA Vakaros unit is a small investment compared to almost everything else they are doing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Vakaros\u2019s race management system is called RaceSense. Among many useful functions normally run by a race committee, it provides a simple green light\/red light indicator to tell a sailor if he has started behind or in front of the line. Wilson claims the experience has been transformational for the J\/70 fleet.<\/p>\n

\"Someone\n

Besides the race management advantages, sailors can use smart devices to capture valuable performance data. Photo: Vakaraos<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cThe last two J\/70 Worlds have used RaceSense, and the J\/70 Class uses RaceSense officially for all of their major international events and most national events.\u201d<\/p>\n

Some clubs are switching in this direction too. The J\/70 is an excellent example of a class where they\u2019ve experienced the pain of many general recalls leading to Black Flags, and sometimes having days of not being able to get off racing at all due to those challenges.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is no Black Flag because you can return to start. In the 2024 Worlds in Palma, [competitor and frequent J\/70 pro] Mark Foster told me it was possibly the first time ever that a J\/70 Worlds had run the entire regatta with only the \u2018P\u2019 flag. You can throw away all those other flags; you can put them in a museum.\u201d<\/p>\n

The 18ft Skiff fleet also experimented with using Vakaros for its racing, although has now moved away from using it for the time being. \u201cWe started using Vakaros a couple of seasons ago but we found we didn\u2019t have enough reliability,\u201d says Nearn. \u201cI\u2019d say we were an early adopter and we couldn\u2019t find reliability in our hostile environment.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe 18s are punishing on equipment. We were putting the units at the bottom of the mast, below the vang collar. It gets pretty wet in there; you\u2019ve got people dropping kites and the Cunningham going through that position. I don\u2019t think it was robust enough at that time, but it\u2019s something we\u2019d consider again in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Someone\n

\u2018They can be moved mid-race if the wind shifts\u2019. Photo: Paul Todd\/outsideimages.com\/NYYC<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Critical calls for yacht racing<\/h2>\n

Another major player is Velocitek. Velocitek pioneered combined GPS\/speed\/compass units which could measure distance to line with the ProStart, which was adopted by top sailors and events, including many International Moth sailors who often used it to record eye-watering top speeds.<\/p>\n

Last year Velocitek launched a new RTK puck which allows race committees to automate many functions such as \u2018pingless\u2019 distance-to-start, synchronised countdown times, and immediate OCS (On Course Side) calls. The \u2018RTK\u2019 technology behind it is based on Real-Time Kinematic GPS, which was first developed for use in sailing for the 34th America\u2019s Cup by legendary navigator Stan Honey and offers positioning accuracy of less than 2cm.<\/p>\n

Part of the reason why classes like the 18ft Skiffs and International Moths have been able to be early adopters of such technology is they\u2019re independent of the governance of World Sailing and the red tape that can go with that. The Olympic classes, on the other hand, have to seek permission through the multiple checks and balances of the committees at World Sailing to make even small changes to equipment or race management.<\/p>\n

However, progress is on its way. Ben Remocker is class manager for three Olympic classes \u2013 the Nacra 17 catamaran and the 49er and 49erFX men\u2019s and women\u2019s skiffs \u2013 and among the keenest to push forward with implementing new ideas. Remocker believes technology could transform the experience for his Olympic sailors as well as race officials.<\/p>\n

\"SailTeck\u2019s\n

SailTeck\u2019s GPS Compass is solar powered with 300 hours of data storage for export and race replay<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think there\u2019s anything more frustrating to a sailor than winning a race \u2013 only to find out you were called OCS,\u201d says Remocker. \u201cThat moment you go through the line thinking, \u2018Did they not blow a whistle or a horn on purpose, or because they\u2019re not paying attention?\u2019 and then you\u2019ve got your whole emotional investment tied up in your race\u2026 it\u2019s such an odd situation to be going through in sport.\u201d<\/p>\n

In what can be career-deciding races, where titles or selection are at stake, an \u2018eyeball\u2019 OCS call will often be challenged by sailors.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey want to listen to the recording of the start \u2013 so the race officers now all have to record themselves talking into a microphone as evidence. Then they want to see the video, the pin-end video, and hear the pin-end microphone. Then they still want to protest because they think they can prove they were behind the line. It goes on for literally hours. That can all be avoided,\u201d explains Remocker.<\/p>\n

No whitewash<\/h2>\n

Aside from the massive time-waste of OCS disqualifications and the whole rigmarole of general recalls and subsequent restarts, Remocker sees other opportunities for new technology to make the day more efficient.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs sailors we all want to tune up and sail and be ready for starts, but we also have to loiter around the race committee boat waiting for them to get into a sequence so we can get the time synchronised. You have to make sure you\u2019ve got a line of sight; you can\u2019t be too far away. You\u2019ve got to get your watch ready and be looking, and then everyone tries to play \u2018broken telephone\u2019 between a bunch of flags and horns.<\/p>\n

\"A\n

Once the race is underway, the Velocitek units show electronic compass, speed and heel readings. Photo: Paul Todd\/outsideimages.com<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cWith a system like Vakaros, that all gets automatically synchronised. Not only do you not have to worry about pressing your [watch] button, but you can just forget about it. It will pop up with \u201811 minutes to go\u2019 to your start. You\u2019re doing your tuning runs and you don\u2019t have to stop and go back.\u201d<\/p>\n

A side benefit may be that if no one is trying to \u2018hide\u2019 on the start line, the whole sport could become more colourful and more commercially appealing to sponsors.<\/p>\n

Remocker comments: \u201cThis technology gets rid of the desire for everyone to be invisible and for everyone to have white boats. Suddenly, you could have massively branded boats because no one has the fear of being seen over the line anymore. People can put logos, colours, and personality all over themselves and their equipment.\u201d<\/p>\n

Article continues below\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/p><\/div>\n

\n
\n

What it\u2019s like racing double-handed around the world in a 40-footer<\/a><\/h2>\n<\/header>\n
\n

We are deep in the South Atlantic on a screaming reach, riding the leading edge of the semi-permanent cold front\u2026<\/p>\n<\/div>\n