By Alexander Smith
MARSEILLE, France (Reuters) – In a darkened room below the ship-like “bridge” where race officials look out at the Mediterranean overseeing the Olympic sailing, a team of jurors stare intently at a glowing bank of screens streaming the high-octane kiteboard racing.
Jurors normally operate out on the water for Olympic sailing races, meting out penalties from speed boats known as RIBS by flying a traditional flag system of coloured nautical symbols.
But because the kiteboarders can travel at speeds of up to 80 kph, even the RIBS are not fast enough to keep up with them, meaning that some officials are now shore-based, with footage streamed live from two drones to help them make their calls.
Billed as the fastest sport of the Olympics, kiteboarding made its Games debut in Marseille, with the kiters trying to avoid wipeouts as they “send it” around the course.
This extra speed has added to the factors officials on the bridge have to consider in deciding whether to schedule races, balancing the demands of sport with safety considerations.
Back inside the hushed race officials booth, one person is in charge of coordinating the two drone pilots out on boats, giving the jury members the bird’s eye view needed to decide whether the foiling kiteboarders have broken any rules.
“Get ready for the round marking,” the drone coordinator said as the kiteboarders sped towards one of the buoys during the men’s semi-finals on Friday.
As well as employing drone technology to help with the split-second umpiring decisions, the officials also have live GPS tracking of the kite sailors, who have chips in their kit, as they “fly” above the waves on their foiling boards
As the quick-fire race nears its conclusion, they prepare the pilots out on the water for the final stretch with the words: “Let’s get ready for the gybe and the finish leg”.
Seconds later, the race is over and the jury members peel their eyes away from the screens as they dissect any incidents.
(Reporting by Alexander Smith; Editing by Ken Ferris)
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