A few weeks ago, the New York Yacht Club hosted its Fleet Race Championship, sailed in the Club’s fleet of identical Sonars. It’s a more low key regatta by NYYC standards, no big-fleet logistics or international teams, but the racing was as sharp and competitive as it gets.
The standout story from the weekend wasn’t the weather or the winners. It was efficiency.
Velocitek was proud to support the Race Committee with our RTK GPS race management system, helping them keep the racing tight, fair, and fast even when Mother Nature threw a curveball.
Calm mornings, fast afternoons
Both days started the same way: glassy water, with a hint of light northerly (180° from the forecast direction) and a postponement flag. No stress, no rush. Sailors took their time, enjoyed lunch ashore (or on the dock), and waited for the breeze to fill in.
When it finally did, after 1:30 p.m. each day, the Race Committee went straight to work. The line was set once, perfectly, using Velocitek RTK. There was no ping parade, no boats burning time trying to find the line ends. Everyone knew exactly where the line was.
From the first sequence, things just clicked. Zero general recalls all weekend. Every start was clean, fair, and on time.
Race after race after race
Saturday: five races in under four hours.
Sunday: three more before the 3 p.m. cutoff.
Between races, the turnaround time was almost unbelievable: just seven minutes from the last boat finishing to the next warning signal. Just enough time to run the tapes on the spinnaker, grab a drink of water, reset, and get your head back in the game.
By 4 p.m. on Sunday, sailors were back on the lawn for awards, having completed a full eight-race series in under eight hours on the water.
Confidence makes efficiency possible
That kind of smooth, high-output race management doesn’t just happen. It happens when the Race Committee can trust their data. Trust their course geometry. Trust that every decision is backed by centimeter-level accuracy.
That trust was powered by Velocitek RTK.
Better data ➡️ Faster turnarounds ➡️ More racing.
Learn more about Velocitek RTK and how our technology is changing race management from the club level to the grand prix stage.
Velocitek RTK — Better racing through superior accuracy.