"We've been trying different things and trying to learn the boat this week and the Vakaros software has been cool," Miller said. "We like how you can ping the lines remotely and don't have to press the five-minute button anymore!"
Vakaros is a wireless instrumentation company working in the sailing world and at Charleston Race Week they have been running their new OCS Detection and Race Management Platform called RaceSense.
This week the RS21 fleet agreed to trial the Vakaros Atlas 2. The digital device is placed on the goose neck and basically shows where you are on the starting line and indicates to the competitor on a small screen if they are on the course side, signaling if they need to return to the start. It uses wireless mesh technology and a Garmin 3 chip for quicker upload and accuracy.
"It's exciting to see CRW and RS21 accepting and starting to adopt new technology like this," Will Huerth, Vakaros' director of sales said. "It's a more efficient, fair, and fun way to go about sailing and it's exciting to see the RS21 youth sailors embracing the Atlas 2, and the race committee love its autonomous lights and flags. To see this all come together at Charleston Race Week is an awesome platform and showcase for us and RS21."
Vakaros is working with classes like the M32, the 69F, and the Melges24, and is thrilled to engage with the RS21 fleet, an exciting new class with a big presence in Europe and growing in the US.
Teague added, "As head of the race management committee for US Sailing, we want to embrace technology, understand it and to continue to improve our sport and the products that work with our sport. That's why we have been actively engaged in understanding the Vakaras Atlas 2 product - I think it could really enhance our sport and that's why our race managers in the country are really working with it."