ILCA 6 Start at OCR Grand Slam Event San Pedro, LA
The Vakaros RaceSense starting system was trailed at the Sailing Grand Slam 19-24 July San Pedro Olympic Classes Regatta in LA. There on the 2028 Olympic courses top ILCA 6 and ILCA 7 sailors had the opportunity to see this technology tested at scale and consider what it could mean for how ILCA racing is started in the future.
The system works by linking every part of the starting sequence together: two fixed units mark either end of the line, each boat carries its own onboard unit, and the Race Officer’s tablet ties it all together with a real-time view of where every boat sits relative to the line.
When the start signal fires and the line goes “open,” the system flags any boats that are over early — individually. Rather than calling a general recall and resetting the whole fleet, only the sailors who jumped the gun are notified. They can dip back, clear the line, and re-join the race while everyone else keeps sailing.
For ILCA, the appeal is straightforward: fewer stoppages, faster racing, and starts that reward clean execution instead of penalizing the whole fleet for a few early boats. It also gives race officials a much stronger evidentiary basis for starting decisions.
San Pedro was an important proving ground, and Vakaros RaceSense will make its debut at an ILCA World Championship at the 2026 ILCA 7 Men’s World Championship in Dun Laoghaire, Ireland, running August 23–30, followed by the 2026 ILCA 6 Women’s World Championship at the same venue from September 5–12.
See more on the experience with the system and opinion of top sailors to its use in the post on the ILCA web site Here.