2021: The Data Is In

by Cyclops Marine 17 Jan 2022 16:30 GMT

Every year the push towards data-driven performance enhancement rolls on. More sailors get dialled-in to more data inputs, and the gap widens between those adopting smarter race tactics & training practises and those left behind.

Race teams equipped with the power of live load data from highly-accurate wireless load sensors from Cyclops dominated regattas around the world in 2021, to a degree that surprised even us. But the year also saw sailing analytics software and mobile app capabilities improve, so the value sailors were able to extract from data post-sail also increased.

The Year by its Data Champions...

So, starting from December and working back, we bring you the year in review through the eye(s) of Cyclops - with a selection of our top data champions (sailors racing with our sensors) from the last twelve months...

December

Sydney - Hobart Yacht Race: 'Ichi Ban' Wins Overall
The history-making Botin 52 became just the third yacht to take the Tattersall Cup three times. Third time round Matt Allen and his team benefited from Cyclops technology as they battled incredibly tough conditions.

November

'Sangre Azul' wins overall in Peru Ocean Sailing Association Closing Championship
The Peruvian Sun Fast 3300 is pictured below, sailing with smarttune sensor on her forestay.

October

Swan One Design World's: 'G-Spot' Dominates ClubSwan 36 Class
With a smartlink 5t sensor from Cyclops on the forestay, Giangiacomo Serena di Lapigio's team capped off a great season for the new class with a dominant win.

Middle Sea Race: J/111 'Blur' wins ORC 5
"Forestay tension has been one of the 4 or 5 numbers on the mast that we really communicate around... for me helming it helps me communicate with the main trimmer and the jib trimmer, where are we and where do we want to be." Peter Gustafsson, Skipper

September

Multihull Cup: 'Allegra' wins in style with clean sweep in Mallorca
Adrian Keller's 84' Nigel Irens design led a fleet of performance cruising catamarans to again take line honours and win her second Multihull Cup.

August

Rolex Fastnet Race: 1st & 2nd in the Double Handed and IRC 3 classes for two smarttune users 'Leon' and 'Swell'
The epic battle between JPK 1030 Léon and Sun Fast 3300 Swell ended with the former coming out on top.

ORC Worlds: 'Pro4u' First Corinthian in ORC C
The Swedish First 36.7 sailed with a smarttune on the forestay and a smartlink in the mainsheet.

Copa del Rey MAPFRE: 'G-Spot' wins ClubSwan 36 class and top one design award.

July

'Axe Sail' (J/99) wins Tour des Ports de la Manche
"We are very happy with our Cyclops sensor... the thing is to win with precision in the backstay trimming. We sail double-handed so when we are tired we just look on our sitting table and don't waste time with useless questions."

Transpac Race: 'Pyewacket' Takes Line Honours
The Volvo 70 emerged victorious in the 51st Transpac after 5 days and 17 hours at sea. They use a smartlink load sensor to get the most out of their Code Zero.

'Blur' Wins Inaugural Aegean 600 in ORC 2
"Our data driven approach works really well in races like this, and our smarttune sensor is central both during the race and in post race analysis." Peter Gustafsson, Skipper

June

Landsail Tyres J-Cup: 'McFly' win J/111
"With our J/111 One Design Class the margins are very close... smarttune is an essential product that will provide us with the next competitive edge." Tony Mack, Owner, Mcfly

Champagne Charlie June Regatta 'Gr8 Banter' wins IRC 3
"To have a digital gauge to provide data is invaluable in replicating fast settings" Ian Handley, Gr8 Banter

Dun Laoghaire to Dingle Race: J/99, 'Juggerknot 2' wins IRC 2

May

RORC Spring Series: - 'Dawn Treader' & 'Sailplane' 1st and 2nd in IRC and Gentoo wins Double Handed honours.
"Using the smartlink to measure the loads on our furling sails gives us the confidence to push the boat consistently throughout the race" Ed Bell, JPK 1180 Dawn Treader

March

Alan Roberts places 2nd in Solo Maitre Coq
"The smarttune provides me with live data so I can instantly repeat settings that work."
His Figaro 3 is pictured right with a smarttune 1/2" sensor installed on the forestay.

Top Trainers in 2021

Some sailors can't race with Cyclops equipment because of OD rules, but they get a huge amount of value from putting them to work in training, narrowing down on fast settings, analysing data and matching fast numbers up to their feel so they can replicate them when racing.

Dylan Fletcher-Scott MBE on smartlink: "It's a bit of a game changer to be honest."

2021 saw Dylan become an Olympic Gold Medalist. He uses a smartlink in training on his Moth, so to do other top moth sailors like Kyle Langford and Jack Wetherell. Several Olympic federations also added Cyclops to their training programmes last year.

INEOS Team UK: "We consider Cyclops Marine our go-to experts when it comes to wireless load sensors." Andrew Mclean, Systems Engineering

While the finals of the Prada Cup didn't go as planned, Britain's America's Cup Team had a great showing in the round robins. They trained with our sensors and were also instrumental in the development of our smartlink range.

'Midlife Crisis', Runner-Up at J/70 World Championships: "With the smartlink on the vang and the smarttune on the forestay, we really got a good look at how vang tension affects headstay sag and how to combat tat issue with rig tune... they are immensely useful for training." Erik Shampain, Midlife Crisis

'Eat Sleep J Repeat': "Using this on the J/70... Learning some good things already and more to come." Paul Ward, Skipper

The world champions from 2019 couldn't quite retain their title, but came 2nd at the Europeans in August and won at the J-Cup in June.

Get Smart in 2022 - Join This List!

With Cyclops planning new technology and integrations throughout 2022, the value of the data provided by our sensors is only set to increase.

Talk to our experts and find the sensor that will keep you in the race!

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