SailGP

Changing the face of fan engagement with a second-screen experience

A sport with no stadium needed a mobile companion

A sport with no stadium, but fans around the world. SailGP’s global audience follows the action wherever they are.

The annual global sailing championship features national teams racing high-tech F50 foiling catamarans. Known as “Formula 1 on water,” the boats lift entirely out of the water on hydrofoils and reach speeds over 100 km/h.

Whether following from the shore, hospitality, VIP stadiums or virtually from a laptop or phone, with no traditional stadium or playing field, keeping up with the action can be tricky. That’s why SailGP needed to provide fans with a mobile companion that keeps them engaged in the action from anywhere in the world.

When Apadmi built the SailGP app, the sport was brand new and wanted to showcase the action to sailing fans everywhere. So how did we bring these supercharged F50 hydrofoiling “flying” racing catamarans to life digitally?

Built on scalable foundations

The SailGP app was the first of its kind, and with the inaugural race looming, there was no room for error and little time for testing. Apadmi had to get it right the first time, working with some of the world’s most technologically advanced racing boats to create a second-screen experience that put fans in control of the data they consume.

Real-time data, from every boat on the water

The app combines 1,200 data points for each boat across 8 livestream feeds, giving fans access to more live sporting data than any other sport makes public, in real time.

Three ways to watch one race

Three distinct user viewing modes let fans completely personalise their race experience, tuning the app to match their own level of interest rather than forcing everyone through the same view.

World-first streaming speed

A combination of cutting-edge technology and smart UX brought the championship to life in near real time. The app achieved a streaming latency of less than 5 seconds, compared to the average broadcast latency of around 30 seconds, a world-first for live sport.

Big impact as the sport grew

The app quickly became core to how fans actually experienced the sport, not just a companion piece running alongside a broadcast.

138K

fans using the app
1200

data points tracked
<5

seconds streaming latency

Land Rover-branded foiling catamaran races across choppy water, crew members aboard beneath a large sail in a fast-paced sailing scene.

Continued growth

The championship keeps growing, and so does the app’s role. In the championship’s third season, an insights web platform used directly by SailGP teams was created, giving them a central location to monitor and compare performance, extending the same data-first thinking behind the fan app into the paddock itself.

“We’re immensely proud of our mobile application. This isn’t just a first in our sport, we don’t believe there’s any other sport that gives as much data as we’re collecting to the public in a live environment and allows fans to customise their viewing experience.”

-Warren Jones, Chief Technology Officer, SailGP