The 2025 German Sailing League Finale brought together top sailors and cutting-edge race management technology on the Wannsee in Berlin. Hosted by Berliner Yacht Club and Deutsche Segel-Bundesliga, the event delivered some of the tightest racing of the season and gave everyone a firsthand look at how Velocitek RTK and TracTrac are reshaping modern race management and broadcasting.
A High-Stakes Finale on the Wannsee
Heading into the finale weekend, the top three teams in the league standings were separated by just one point. Every start, mark rounding, and tactical decision mattered. The same was true for the race management technology.
Racing took place just off the Berliner Yacht Club harbor, one of Germany’s most historic sailing venues. Both the First and Second Leagues competed simultaneously, each with six J/70s rotating through quick, sub-20-minute races. With the championship on the line, the pressure for precision, both on the race boats and on the signal boat, could not have been higher.
The Technology Behind the Event
For the First League fleet, each boat was equipped with a Velocitek RTK Puck and ProStart display. Together, these devices provided the racing sailors time to start and distance-to-line centimeter-level positional accuracy, enabling the Race Committee to manage starts, track OCS calls, and synchronize racing activity with precision never before seen at a Segel Bundesliga event.
The Velocitek system was fully integrated with TracTrac’s live tracking and broadcast platform, allowing real-time positional data to flow directly into TracTrac’s visualization tools for spectators and media coverage.
How RTK Accuracy Changes Race Management
The Velocitek RTK Race Management System removes uncertainty from one of the most critical parts of racing: the start line. With Velocitek RTK, the Race Committee can position and call the signal boat and pin within a few centimeters. During the Berlin finale, that precision had a noticeable impact on both the race officials and the competitors.
On the practice day, the competitors ran a series of test starts using the Velocitek RTK system. By the end of the session, every sailor had gained confidence that the start calls were fair and that distance-to-line data was accurate. That trust showed in the racing itself, with fleets pushing closer to the line and achieving tighter, cleaner starts than ever before.
One moment captured on video illustrated this perfectly. In one of the races, several boats were just centimeters over the line at the start. The Velocitek RTK data flagged the OCS boats instantly, and within two seconds of the signal, the boats were already restarting.
“I was a little late starting the camera, but even in the short clip you can see how fast the boats respond to clear themselves. They don’t lose much, and they’re still in the race. When the black boat bears away, you can hear the red boat shouting ‘Raum!’—German for ‘room’—in a slightly panicked tone. It’s intense, but it’s clean racing. Everyone trusts the system.”
For sailors, the synchronized timers, ping-free distance-to-line, and automatic OCS/clear calls made racing more fair and more competitive. For race officials, it simplified line management and removed subjectivity from start calls.
TracTrac Integration: Enhancing the Spectator Experience
The partnership with TracTrac transformed the event experience for fans near and far. The live tracking visualizations, powered by Velocitek RTK positional data, offered a new level of clarity in showing start-line dynamics, tactical positioning, and mark roundings.
For online and on-site audiences, the precision was obvious. TracTrac’s live feed displayed boat movements with exact timing and alignment, creating a broadcast experience that matched what was happening on the water.
Why Accuracy Matters
Holding a national sailing final in the heart of Berlin is special in itself, but doing it with RTK-level precision brought a new level of confidence and transparency to the sport. For Race Committees, it means faster setup, more objective calls, and measurable fairness. For sailors, it means they can push harder, knowing that the system is tracking every movement accurately. And for fans, it means the on-screen experience finally matches the intensity and precision of what’s happening on the racecourse.
Looking Ahead
The German Sailing League Finale was the first major event in Europe to run a full weekend of racing using the Velocitek RTK Race Management System integrated with TracTrac live tracking. For Velocitek, it was another proof point that accuracy isn’t just about data—it’s about trust, fairness, and the future of the sport.