Navigating Innovation - Adapting the Sport of Sailing to Foster Competition and a Growing Fanbase: Russell Coutts, CEO, SailGP

The Restless Ones

Sailing the high seas has been a right of trade, survival, and sport for as long as time. For centuries, advancements came at a slow pace. Navigating through the stars and elementary improvements in shipbuilding eventually progressed with the technology age into data-based advanced tracking of currents and GPS navigation capabilities. The advent of 5G has brought an entirely new set of tools and insights to the masses, allowing for a leap forward in boat designs and controls, real-time mapping, and the ability for audiences to engage in the sport in new and exciting ways. SailGP is leaning into all three of these advancements to create the next great spectator sport.

For this episode of The Restless Ones, I had the opportunity to sit with Sir Russell Coutts, CEO of SailGP, a lifelong sailor who is bringing the sport he is so passionate about into the connected age. Sir Russell sees the advancements in data, and the 5G networks that carry that critical information, as the key to unlocking innovation and fandom in the sport. SailGP harnesses the power of boat tracking, remote cameras and course sensors, tidal scanners and more to bring competitors and fans the real-time data and insights that improve their experiences.

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