Event


And the winner is... everyone!


Spectators and competitors alike gave the universal thumbs-up to Cowes Week’s new Spectator app – but only after exhaustive refinement and testing to ensure it hit the ground glitch-free and operating at full capacity


Many sailors will be very used to turning up at a regatta and being asked to scan a QR code to open a WhatsApp group that the organisers use for communications. Once upon a time these were open channels filled with general competitor chitchat as well as race information from the RO. Latterly, they have become broadcast only, but they are still extremely limited in their capability. How, for instance, do you cope with a fleet of not 60 boats, but 600, spread across not half a dozen classes, but 40 different classes, all using the same race marks for their courses? In the case of Cowes Week, the answer was to write a dedicated event app and to tie that into the organisation’s entry system so that from start to finish the event team can use one database of information. It has literally transformed the


event from one that was very traditional (tradition is hard to get away from when you’ve been going


64 SEAHORSE


nearly 200 years) into what is today, probably the world’s most advanced Corinthian regatta. Introduced in 2018, the app has now evolved to be a key element in the evolution of Cowes Week, consistently scoring very highly in competitor feedback surveys. In 2022, Cowes Week introduced a spectator version of the app as they seek to bring the event closer to the thousands of people who continue to gather on the sea wall in front of the Royal Yacht Squadron to watch the races. Cowes Week, the world longest


running regatta, which will celebrate its 200th anniversary in 2026, and which wasn’t always the easiest event to follow from a competitor and spectators’ perspective, has become one of the easiest. The Spectator app means that


people around the world can follow what’s going on, seeing results and news, videos and pictures through the app. From a commercial standpoint it also enables tailored


Above: starting and finishing as many races as possible at the iconic Royal Yacht Squadron line with the cannons firing is part of Cowes Week’s ethos, made easier by the event’s new app


sponsorship messages to be sent, by class where appropriate, and to spectators following worldwide. With Corinthian sailing becoming harder and harder to fund via sponsorship, bringing a new level of technology to the commercial aspects is vital. Sponsors today want data; they want access to a known demographic, not just flags flown on the dock and the Cowes Week App is proving its worth, both for competitors and sponsors. In fact, it’s revolutionising the event. So how does it work? Every boat


entering receives a specific code to activate the app. When the course setters finalise the courses for each fleet, these are automatically sent to every boat as appropriate. Long gone are the days of trying to scribble down a course, reading a course board on the Castle at the Royal Yacht Squadron or listening to a VHF radio whilst milling around the start area. Having all the data in one system


MARTIN ALLEN


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