The Extreme Sailing Series is in Singapore as the first of 8 international venues for some 260 races this year. 12 teams will be vying to be leaders over four days from today till 23 February, at the Marina Bay.
I joined the SAP Extreme Sailing Team as a guest in their 40 Catamaran during one of the races on the opening day to experience the thrills and challenges of extreme sailing.
The participating multihulls racing against the backdrop of the Singapore skyline at Marina Bay, as the sun sets at the end of a successful first day. Taken with a Samsung GALAXY Note 3. Photo credit: John Tan.
With things happening so fast and with so many variables changing at the same time, it is easy to see how SAP’s data analytics is an invaluable tool in helping the teams and the coaches squeeze as much performance as possible out of every race.
Established in 2007, the Extreme Sailing Series is into its eighth year.
In 2012, SAP became the Official Technical Partner of the Extreme Sailing Series.
For the results of the first day of racing in Singapore, check out the report here after the eight races.
You can also check out the race leader board and visualisation of how each race unfolded based on SAP analytics here.
As in other complex competitive sports such as Formula One racing, a multitude of factors contribute to the success of a participating team.
These variables can also make it confusing and daunting for the spectator to follow and fully appreciate how the race is unfolding.
This is because there is simply too much information assaulting the brain of anyone trying to fully understand why a team they support is falling behind or why a rival is pulling ahead.
The SAP Extreme Sailing Team, with the Singapore Marina Bay Sands hotel in the background. Taken with a Samsung GALAXY Note 3. Photo credit: John Tan.
This is where SAP data analytics help the teams crunch through the ocean of data streaming in from live data logging equipment on board the catamaran or the F1 car.
SAP data analytics
Through analysing GPS data together with integrated wind measurements from sensors out on the race course, the leader board displays information such as in-race ranking, average speeds, distance travelled, ETA (estimated time of arrival at the next mark rounding), gaps to leader, gains and losses per leg.
SAP uses Big Data analytics to derive meaningful and useful information for the racers, coaches, commentators and spectators.
Sailing rules forbid real time remote orders to the sailors so the knowledge derived from the data analytics is used for post race debrief to help the team understand its mistakes and to take corrective actions.
The 12 team skippers at the official press conference for the Extreme Sailing Series in Singapore. Photo credit: Lloyd Images.
Team coaches and managers can then adjust their race tactics based on lessons learnt from the data analysis.
Giving a go at sailing
It was a thrilling experience joining the SAP Extreme Sailing Team in their Catamaran today during one of their races.
It reminded me of my virgin trip on a smaller boat more than two decades ago.
Groupama sailing team had an impressive return to the Extreme 40 fleet, wrapping up day one in third place. Photo credit: Lloyd Images.
Whilst on a summer engineering “industrial attachment” to the Royal Naval Engineering College in Manadon in Plymouth, UK, a friend from the Royal Navy took a group of us complete newbies on a sail from Plymouth to Torquay and back.
The RN Commander was the only seasoned sailor while his motley crew included students from landlocked countries who promptly got seasick shortly after leaving port.
So effectively only half the crew was really manning the sails, based on a few simple instructions prior to striking out.
That was not part of the Extreme Sailing Series but boy did it feel like one! We enjoyed so much camaraderie during the sail.
It was also one of the most fun outing I had that summer, apart from getting lost trekking through sleet and fog in Dartmoor with the same motley crew – but that’s another story altogether.
Commentators can actually use the information feed in real time to give them better awareness of the unfolding race and draw the attention of the spectators to pertinent aspects of the race.
Red Bull Sailing Team flying a hull on day one, the first time the team have raced with their new crew. Photo credit: Lloyd Images.
Through comprehensive and intuitive data visualisation, spectators themselves can peruse the real time information made available through the data analytics.
J.P. Morgan BAR struggled for consistency on day one, with two race wins coupled with two last places. Photo credit: Lloyd Images.
The result is that the spectators feel more engaged in the sports through the greater understanding and interaction with the data/information provided by data analytics.
To SAP, providing the data analytics support for a sports racing team is similar to fulfilling the rigorous demands of a small and medium business.
Through its sponsorship and involvement in complex sports events in the form of data analytics tools and solutions, the company hopes to showcase its technologies and tools and inspire confidence in potential customers that SAP is capable of satisfying their business needs.
Tags: analytics, Big Data, data, enterprise IT, Marina Bay, races, sailing, SAP, Singapore, sports