As part of Sail Canada’s efforts to produce consistent world-class sailors we are proud to announce a new data analytics program that will track, monitor, and produce objective reports as a means to identify athlete development and performance, and system gaps at club, provincial and national teams levels.
This project started conceptually last October thanks to the support from our partners: Own the Podium, The Canadian Olympic Committee, Sport Canada, and industry sponsors. This includes support from Sail Canada’s new official performance technology partner, Velocitek – with use of the Njord Analytics operating system. Thanks to Velocitek, trackers have been provided to the Canadian Sailing Team and Development Squad.
In addition, several member clubs and Provincial Sailing Associations have committed to using this data analytics program. While each program’s launch date is different, participation will start taking place in British Columbia, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec and Nova Scotia.
Mike Milner, Sail Canada High Performance Director, states, “while what we can measure is fairly unlimited, Sail Canada will be focusing on a number of measurables this year.” The following is on tap for 2020:
- Starting line acceleration, distance to the line and optimized VMG at the start
- Tracking heart rates over training days to identify optimal heart rate for competing
- Tracking rudder movements
- Using drone footage linked to GPS for starting maneuvers
- Tracking distance sailed over the race course
- Tracking speed difference with equipment changes
Sail Canada is also happy to announce the following regional resource experts who will help athletes and coaches with downloading and interpreting data in their daily training environments:
- Kyle Martin (West)
- Robert Davis (Central)
- Agustin Ferrario (East)
We are confident that these individuals will provide quality performance support.
A special thank you to BC sailing and Kevin Black who worked tirelessly with Sail Canada to ensure this project got off the ground running as well as Ontario Sailing, Sail Nova Scotia, Federation Voile Quebec, Manitoba Sailing, Port Credit Yacht Club, the Royal Victoria Yacht Club, the Royal Canadian Yacht Club, and the Royal Nova Scotia Yacht Squadron.
For more information on this project contact Mike Milner – mike@sailing.ca
