Now that the dust has settled and the blue skies have passed, a data analysis of the inaugural Melges 15 Europeans held on the Hyland Shipping course, as part of VDLR, gives some interesting insights about both the boat and the teams sailing. Slicing and dicing the Vakaros Racesense data for the 9 races reveals which metrics are crucial for winning races.
The boat and the teams
- 29 teams raced every race
- 9 races were sailed, with 7 different race winners
- 6 nations competed
- 4 of the 9 races were won by female skippers
- Oldest winning race skipper was 60
- Youngest winning race skipper was 19
- Oldest team was 129 years young
- Youngest team was 39 years old
- 16 family combinations among the 29 teams
- Heaviest team was 175kg (came 8th)
- Lightest team was 120kg (came 11th)
- Closest finish gap between teams was 5 thousands of a second
- Closest distance to the start line being over was 9cm
- Least On Course Side at the start was 6cm (ouch)
Just five thousandths of a second separated the closest finishers at the Melges 15 Europeans
The Race Sense Data
So, what data makes the most difference to performance apart from where you actually finish? Using the attached RaceSense data, three metrics were analysed across the 29 teams across the 9 races.
- Distance to Line
- Overall Distance Sailed
- Average Speed
Distance to the Line was as the gun went at every race. Averaging this across 9 races allowed a ranking for each team. In some ways a measure of starting, though it did not take account of where on the line you started! The best-ranked team was on average 4.36 metres behind the line, which is approximately. 1 to 3s behind, depending on conditions at the event. The worst performer was 12.91 metres back. With respect to the results, DTL was found to have just a 38% correlation with overall ranking.
Race three of the Melges 15 Europeans, five seconds after the start and (below) race eight, four seconds after the start
Next up was Distance sailed, surely sailing the least distance means winning? Or does speed matter more? Distance was measured as soon as the gun went off and totalled for each team. A notable variation is observed, with the least total distance being 50.895km and the maximum at 55.809km. Unsurprisingly, sailing almost 5km more (almost another race) than your competitors has a big impact on overall results. With respect to the results, distance sailed was found to have a 72% correlation with overall ranking.
Finally boat speed, does being quick trump everything else? Many sailors are familiar with the idea that boatspeed makes a tactician a master. Again, big ranges across the fleet here with average speeds across the regatta varying between 5.31 knots to 4.62 knots. With respect to the results Average speed was found to have a 90% correlation with overall ranking.
562 sailed the least distance at the Melges 15 Europeans
So if you must choose, pick boat speed as the metric to focus on the most. As for the overall winner, ISV 1015? They were good on all 3 metrics and significantly sailed the third least distance and were the second fastest average speed across the regatta. So, sailing very fast and travelling the least distance unsurprisingly is the recipe for success!
Overall rankings by metrics at the Melges 15 Europeans
