A US-based company has come up with a product that is so intuitive that that one really wonders why it took so long for someone to invent this kind of technology.
MarkSetBot is the latest innovation in yacht racing and solves an age-old problem in a smart way.
Setting up a race course and maintaining it fair and square can be a challenge for even the most experienced race committees.
Who has not been there? The only constant with the wind is that it is never stable.
More often than not, the wind changes during racing, and re-setting marks to a new wind direction requires time, resources, and staff manually moving marks and anchoring them in a new place.
The latest innovation at the hands of race committees reshapes the way race courses are managed. It can be used in sailing, windsurfing, kiteboarding and foiling regattas.
How Does It Work?
MarkSetBot is a clever robotic race buoy that can be fully controlled by a smartphone or tablet.
The self-propelled inflatable race marks use an electric on-board engine and employ GPS technology to zero in on a specific location and stay put until told to move.
MarkSetBot has several advantages.
It allows for a fast course setup with simple map design, it's the perfect mark placement with self-correction and offers quick remote repositioning.
Moreover, there's no need for an anchor in deep water or high wind.
If the wind changes direction, the race committee can easily reposition the marks by just entering the new wind direction in the smartphone app, and the course change happens automatically.
All you have to do it set it and forget it.
MarkSetBot does not require mark setting boats, minimizes fuel consumption, and thus the environmental impact of events, requires less staff, saves money and, best of all, leaves more time for racing.
There is a better way for race committees to set their race courses.