Swiftsure Race Tracker

Race Tracker

Introduction

During the U.S. Memorial Day weekend, hundreds of boats and their sailors will disappear over the horizon as they head to Victoria, BC, Canada to compete in the Swiftsure International Yacht Race. In the past, those wishing to watch the boats as they traversed the Strait of Juan de Fuca and its hazards could only do so with their imagination. This is no longer the case as Swiftsure fans across the globe are able to access the Swiftsure Race Tracker to watch the races and the progress of each boat online.

Expanding Access

The ability of the Swiftsure Race Tracker to present live Swiftsure races has allowed the popularity of the race to expand from an audience restricted to the Pacific Northwest of Canada and the United States. The Swiftsure Race Tracker is very popular; users from countries such as the United Kingdom, Germany and Mexico and even as far as Australia, Turkey and China log on to watch the races. Where once one could only follow the races by listening to a local Victoria radio station for updates, now people from across the world experience Swiftsure’s races live through the Swiftsure Race Tracker.

Functionality that Gives Users Immediate Access

With its beginnings as a simple grid-data system, the interactive Swiftsure Race Tracker system allows followers around the world to track the participating boats from the comfort of their own homes.

Kwindoo Race Tracking software is now used so Swiftsure fans can watch and follow the race.

The previous Swiftsure Race Tracker had Globalstar SPOT GPS transponders located on each boat, which communicated its position every 10 minutes to the Globalstar satellite network used by Swiftsure. From here, the information was sent to a database server and onward to the Swiftsure Race Tracker software, which then displayed the location of the boats in a Google maps-based layout, allowing the public to track Swiftsure live. but also the Swiftsure Race Tracker allowed them to track individual and multiple boats as well as select favourites that they could track at any time during the race.

Operational Use

The Race Tracker provides public access.  Every Long Course boat linked to the Race Tracker software enables the Race Committee to keep track of the location of the boats, provides them with information when the boats are approaching various rounding marks and as they near the finish line (an imaginary line across the race course), ensuring that the finishing crew can establish preliminary results which are then posted immediately to the Swiftsure website.

As a resource to the public, the Race Tracker provides, via the Internet, ongoing access to the various Long Course Swiftsure races.  Followers worldwide can see the location of every boat, follow their tactical manoeuvres, as well as receive the updated status of the various races.  Online viewers can cheer on their favourite crews comfortably from their armchairs at home.

Conclusion

When all the boats are lined up at their starting positions in May, the Race Tracker will also be in position.  For online viewers worldwide the website swiftsure.org will provide ongoing and immediate feedback on the status of each boat as well as all of the various races.  Once the race has started, log in to the Swiftsure Race Tracker using your laptop, computer or mobile phone, and follow your favourite boats!