Tiger Trophy - SailRacer takes dinghy sailing coverage to a new level

by x on 28 Feb 2014 Sponsorship from Rule26 made it possible for SailRacer to cover the 2014 Tiger Trophy pursuit race at Rutland Sailing Club, the last event in the 2013/14 GJW Direct SailJuice Winter Series. SailRacer provided live GPS tracking and live on-line commentary, attracting several thousand on-line spectators. Working for the first time with Garmin, SailRacer also mounted a Garmin VIRB Elite action camera to the bow of the OK sailed by Charlie Cumbley, the North Sails One-Design manager more often seen in a Solo.

The camera provided not only HD footage of the action but also its own GPS data - all integrated with SailRacer's own race tracking data and then combined to produce a full video report of Charlie's viewpoint of the race. The video features SailJuice's Andy Rice interviewing Charlie after the event with both seeing the footage for the first time. The commentary assess where the OK made its gains and losses throughout the race, with the multi-national champion scoring his own performance rather harshly!

Andy Rice commented that, 'It is great to see SailRacer taking techniques like this into the dinghy racing scene. The video is a good way of showing others how a top sailor like Charlie Cumbley approaches his racing, as well as providing further publicity for dinghy events.'

Charlie went onto to say, 'Being able to see what you are feeling and seeing on the water with actual evidence is fantastic and really clear' and he summarised that he could see the benefits as a coaching and even self-coaching tool: 'It is definitely good to get back and see footage of yourself to keep yourself on top.'

Rutland's Tiger Trophy was adopted as a regatta to raise money for the John Merricks Sailing Trust (JMST). Dick Sanders from the Trust feels that 'The Tiger Trophy Movie is a great way of keeping the event and JMST at the forefront of people’s minds.'