Please select your home edition
Edition
Barton Marine Pipe Glands
Product Feature
Crewsaver Wet/Dry Holdall 75L
Crewsaver Wet/Dry Holdall 75L

The VAR of sailing, and it actually works!

by Mark Jardine 12 Dec 2023 20:00 GMT
Close sailing between Australia SailGP Team and New Zealand SailGP Team during a practice session ahead of the France Sail Grand Prix in Saint-Tropez, Sept 8, 2023 © Ricardo Pinto/SailGP

Anybody who follows football knows about VAR, or Video Assistant Referee. They don't just know about it, they obsess about it, they complain about it, and endlessly debate its rights and wrongs. Whichever way you look at VAR, it's controversial.

One of the biggest criticisms that people have of VAR is how the game stops when the Video Assistant Referees are called upon. The flow of the game is ruined as a few people in a box with some big screens make a decision on a handball, offside or foul. The players mill around, the fans get restless in the stadium, watchers at home make a tea, while others just switch off, saying that 'VAR has ruined the game'.

Sailing has its own version of VAR, and it's used to great effect in SailGP. It's called UmpApp, created by software developer Tim Hidemann, following on from the LiveLine technology, developed by a team led by Stan Honey and Ken Milnes.

If you have a read of 'The Man in the Tower' you'll see how umpire calls switched from on the water in the 2013 America's Cup in San Francisco, to in the booth during the 2017 event in Bermuda. It was all down to the accuracy of GPS and positional data improving so much, that the calls could be made from ashore.

The timing was ideal, as it was getting harder and harder for umpire boats to actually keep up with the foiling speedsters. Making a judgement call on the water when you're trying to keep a RIB under control at 40 knots, and getting slammed up and down, was becoming impossible.

As SailGP's Chief Umpire Craig Mitchell said, "The great thing about today's technology is that as soon as it is in UmpApp, you have the facts, and you aren't discussing how different people see a situation and their position."

So all is clear surely? Doesn't dealing with facts and real-time data mean decisions are either right or wrong?

Not in the world of social media.

Let's take this weekend for an example. In the final fleet race of the Emirates Dubai Sail Grand Prix, new USA SailGP Team driver Taylor Canfield decided to shut the door on Sir Ben Ainslie's Emirates Great Britain SailGP Team at the start.

The rules are clear on the start line. If you come in high, then you are risking being black flagged from the race. Was Canfield's move aggressive? Yes. Was Ainslie in the wrong? Also yes.

Some of the keyboard warriors on the SailGP Fans facebook group took a different view, calling for Mitchell to be sacked from umpiring. To be fair, there were a far larger set on the group who defended his decision.

What is very interesting now is the debate. Fans of SailGP are now arguing in the same way that football fans have since the offside rule was introduced in 1863. It started off in taverns, then on phone-ins, and continues on the internet.

We haven't quite reached the heights (or is that depths?) that football has, but these decisions, and their ramifications, are now gaining serious column inches in mainstream publications. Sailing news is back in the wider world.

Ainslie, while of course defending his stance, was pretty philosophical about the whole situation: "It was a difficult way to end for us. We had a really good first race. The team did a great job and that second start we were in pole position, and it was really 50-50 with the USA. They were obviously gunning to try and shut us out and eventually the umpires decided that was the case. It was a really tough call for us because I felt we were sailing really well in the second half of yesterday, and today we were going really well with the bigger wing. But that's sport. Sometimes it's going to go against you, and you just have to take it on the chin."

Let's hope we don't ever reach the point that Turkish football saw on Monday night, with a Club President punching a referee, and the entirety of football being suspended in the country as a result. Maybe another reason that having the umpires in Ealing, London is good...

Jimmy hangs up his SailGP helmet

An occasion which went very much under the radar was Jimmy Spithill's retirement from SailGP sailing.

After the big shake-up and purchase of the US SailGP Team, Jimmy was helming for the Australian team with regular helm Tom Slingsby absent as his wife prepares to give birth.

Spithill said: "This was my last race as a SailGP athlete. It's time for me to let fresh young blood into the competition, with the new Italian team, where I'll take the role of CEO. And, what a way to go out with the Aussies.

"It's been one hell of a ride and I'm going to miss the battles and the competition. It's a full circle moment for me as it's been over 20 years since I raced for Australia, so it feels fitting that I end my SailGP athlete journey on board with the Aussies."

Of course, retirement seems to be one of those terms which has become very flexible in sport, so it would be no surprise to see him make the odd appearance or two with the new Italian team...

Happy Christmas to you all

It's been a tumultuous 2023, with turmoil throughout the world. War, climate events, financial upheaval, and political pandemonium have had ramifications for us all. Sailing provides us with moments of calm to cancel out the noise, so be sure to get out on the water, clear your head, and come back ashore a happier person.

I'm going to take a break from writing a newsletter on Christmas Eve, so wishing you and yours a fantastic Christmas, and thank you for reading your sailing news on Sail-World.com and YachtsandYachting.com. Without you and our advertisers these websites wouldn't be possible and it's why we do what we do.

I raise a glass to your time on the water in 2024.

Mark Jardine
Sail-World.com and YachtsandYachting.com Managing Editor

Related Articles

You just gotta love a good algorithm
So, I opened up YouTube, and there it was. Could not believe my luck, actually. So, I opened up YouTube, and there it was. Could not believe my luck, actually. The algorithm had coughed up something I really wanted to watch. Yes, I know it means Big Brother is watching and listening.Also, every key stroke is being recorded. Posted on 7 Sep
Carbon or Steel?
Moth Foil Evolution with Alex Adams Foils have been shrinking for years as sailors continually try to reduce drag and increase speeds, but designers were reaching the limit of what they could do with carbon, so the latest foils have turned to steel for some parts. Posted on 7 Sep
Unboxing the Bieker Moth with Kyle Stoneham
A look 'below decks' at the hidden control systems on Kyle's International Moth Why are all the ropes hidden on all the latest International Moths? It's all about aerodynamic efficiency as the boats get faster and faster. As we find out with Kyle, there are also some very clever systems under the carbon covers. Posted on 6 Sep
The Age of Steel in the Land of Rock
The International Moth class is never standing still This week the Moths have gathered in Torquay at the Royal Torbay Yacht Club for the UK Championship, and the discussion is all about steel. Posted on 3 Sep
From vision to reality
The XR 41's journey from sketch to World Champion In 2023 I took part in my first X-Yachts Gold Cup at Aarhus in Denmark. It was a glorious event, balancing fun and competition perfectly, and was a weekend where new friendships were formed with sailors who I continue to chat with regularly. Posted on 2 Sep
Championship winning at 9 years old!
Benjamin Pascoe completes a remarkable 2000 Nationals at Hayling Island The 2000 class have just had a superb National Championship at Hayling Island Sailing Club. 59 boats competed in the ten race series with fresh winds and big waves on the opening day, followed by three days of lighter and shift north easterlies. Posted on 28 Aug
Why we need VMG and VMC
On The Ocean Race Europe Tracker The Ocean Race Europe Tracker has just had an update thanks to PredictWind, and now looks at routing for the boats, but it doesn't yet have VMG or VMC. Posted on 27 Aug
Yet more 'F' word
One of the enduring joys of this gig is circling back One of the enduring joys of this gig is circling back. This is no more especially so than when you get to see the plan unfold. Posted on 25 Aug
Blurring the line between sport and entertainment
It's a simple reality that the voyeur in all of us is drawn to crashes Crashes gain clicks. It's a simple reality that the voyeur in all of us is drawn to situations where things have gone spectacularly wrong. Posted on 18 Aug
Double Trouble during Sassnitz SailGP Practice
Brazil hull collapses and French rudder flies off There was drama in Sassnitz during SailGP practice racing as firstly the French SailGP Team's starboard rudder broke off during a windward mark bear away, and then on the same leg Mubadala Brazil SailGP Team nose dived, with the main crossbeam collapsing. Posted on 15 Aug