SailGP launches fan-first AR and VR app experience ahead of Season 4 Grand Final in San Francisco

The global racing championship will bring fans even closer to the action with new in-person and remote graphical viewing and augmented reality experiences via the SailGP app © SailGP

SailGP, the world's most technologically-advanced and exciting racing on water, has launched new Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) features in the SailGP app - providing fans with an enhanced viewing experience of the league's Season 4 Grand Final, taking place this weekend in San Francisco (July 13-14).

For the first time, fans watching the high-speed racing - either in person or tuning in from home - can enjoy an immersive 3D experience through the award-winning SailGP app simply by pointing their handheld iOS device towards the action unfolding right in front of them.

The new VR feature, which uses GPS technology and works on both WiFi and mobile connectivity, provides a 360-viewing angle of the racecourse, plus on water graphical overlays, live stats, F50 boat tracking and much more to ensure fans don't miss any of the action.

The revolutionary new feature has been powered by SailGP's existing Emmy Award-winning LiveLineFX technology and use of the Oracle Cloud, which enables the global championship to process 1.15bn data requests in real-time via 125 sensors from each of the ten state-of-the-art F50 catamarans per hour over T-Mobile's 5G hybrid network solution.

SailGP Chief Technology Officer Warren Jones, said: "SailGP has been at the forefront of technology and innovation in sport and these experiential app upgrades are fueled by our continued desire to revolutionise and enhance the viewing experience for our fans. The inclusion of AR and VR in the SailGP app will provide tech-savvy and data-hungry fans with an even greater understanding and passion for the sport, which continues to grow in popularity worldwide."

SailGP has also launched a new AR experience in the SailGP app to give fans the opportunity to see one of SailGP's identical F50 catamarans up-close. This new feature allows users to have a 360 tour of a high-tech F50,with a 3D view and the ability to zoom in and out to check out all of the core components that enable these boats to reach speeds of up to 100 km/h (60 mph).

Fans can even pose for a selfie and share a photo on social media with their favorite teams' F50, standing side-by-side with these feats of engineering, which fly above water and stand up to 30 meters tall in some configurations.

Following this weekend's Grand Final showdown, SailGP will look to deploy both features for all 14 events in its 2024/2025 Season calendar, which was announced earlier this week.

The Season 4 Grand Final in San Francisco gets under way tomorrow and Sunday from 2.30 pm local time. To witness the action in person visit SailGP.com/SanFrancisco to get the last remaining tickets. For details on how to watch, visit SailGP.com/Watch