Opportunities for teams to overtake are actually more prevalent at short-leg events, rather than long-leg events, data provided by SailGP Insights shows.
Data provided by SailGP’s nine-strong F50 fleet measures the distance sailed by teams on each leg, which means Season 3 events can be split into three groups. ‘Short’ events are where the average distance sailed is less than 1,600m per leg, ‘medium’ is where the average distance sailed is between 1,600m and 2,000m per leg, and ‘long’ is where the average distance sailed is more than 2,000m sailed per leg.
The recent events of Dubai and Singapore fall into the ‘short’ course category, while events like Copenhagen and Cadiz are categorized as ‘long’.
Data also breaks down average position changes in each course category - showing the average difference between Mark 1 rankings and finish line positions.
This shows that the finish positions of the fleet deviated by an average of 1.8 in short courses compared to Mark 1 rankings - 0.1 more position changes compared to long courses.
Data analyst David Rey described this change as ‘surprising’, but added that it is a ‘small difference’.
“One interpretation of this is that shorter courses have more time spent in mark roundings compared to the time spent in a straight line,” he added.
Average position changes do not give the full picture though because a team which rounds Mark 1 in the top three will have fewer positions to gain and more to lose. Often, the first boat at Mark 1 is seen to extend its lead, rather than gain positions.
Data showing position changes compared to Mark 1 rankings show a general trend that boats rounding Mark 1 in third will often hold onto that position. Boats rounding in first are also more likely to retain that rank compared to a boat rounding in second, because it is easier to extend the lead. The length of the course is seen to have little effect according to this metric.
Data of the average position change per team shows that New Zealand and Great Britain regularly move up through the fleet from any position, while Spain is most likely to fall back.
Australia struggles to make up ground after rounding Mark 1 in second or third, while Switzerland rarely starts in the top three teams. France generally struggles to hold onto positions in short courses, while Canada moves up on short leg courses but generally starts worse.
Powered by Oracle, SailGP Insights is an online dashboard which provides fans with huge amounts of data from our cutting-edge racing F50 catamarans.
