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Using Technology in the Optimist and other dinghy classes

Writer's picture: Chionas ChristosChionas Christos

Happy New Year.

2020 has been really challenging for everyone since for long periods we stayed out of the water. However this had us thinking on how we could compensate for the hours we lost and how we should work in the future so sailors get better faster.


We know that Data gathering in any sport is the future , however in sailing up till now this seemed to be extremely difficult due to the costs plus it wasn't so practical for small classes.


As F1 works for the car industry we have the America's Cup and the Volvo Ocean Race. So technology we see today in F1 will in a few years be seen in all the other car driving competitions and finally in our own cars. In sailing the America's cup has gone really far in terms of technology and design this last 8 years so now we can find a lot of tools and software apps being available out there that can improve your sailing in any type of boat.


SAILMON

So we tested the MAX . Sailmon is a big company and the Coster family is in charge. They are sailing champions so they know what sailors need and they do it in a really good way. They always try to give us tools on the high end of the market with good software and good materials.

The Max is an incredible tool that can be used in all sailing classes from the optimist up to big boats. It is very precise and really easy to use. You can collect all sorts of data from your training such as Boat Speed, Heel, Trim, Gps track and if you combine it with a weather station than you can have VMG , tacking angles to the mark etc. Also you can pin the starting line and practice your starts knowing exactly where the line is.

SAILNJORD

While we were testing the MAX we came across to another software company Sailnjord and then the possibilities of what all of this data can do seemed endless. Sailnjord provides a platform in which you can upload a file from the data you collect in the MAX plus the data you collect from a polar watch plus any video recordings you have from training even from multiple sources(coach camera , Go Pro in the boat, Drone footage) and puts all of this with a time stamp.

And everything is on your screen in no time. A coach literally needs a few minutes on his laptop or tablet after the training and can present all kinds of data to his sailors.


From a dinghy coach perspective this opens a brand new road in terms of giving feedback to your sailors much faster and far more comprehensive. At the end of the day sailors are students. They need numbers and images of what is wrong, what works and what doesn't work for them.





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