Reflecting on the past 15 years of his career, Kiwi sailor Jon Bilger admits there have been times of uncertainty.
After spending 10 years managing the weather department with Alinghi in the America’s Cup, including their successes in 2003 and 2007 and their loss in 2010, Bilger developed a weather-forecastingplatform called PredictWind.
The idea was to take complex and accurate weather data available to everyone, and it ultimately became the weather forecaster for the America’s Cup.
But it was a project that took some time to really cast off the moorings.
“We started off and probably did it all the wrong ways. We basically had started off with one developer and one graphics person and we just grew organically from there; threw everything we had at it,” Bilger says.
“[We] obviously ended up with reasonable money with the America’s Cup, and sort of four years in it was like, ‘don’t worry, honey, we’re not going to lose the house.’ We threw everything at it and it was marginal to keep going, to be honest, at one stage there.
“We didn’t have a huge amount of customers, but we’re very fortunate to keep going and keep growing. We’ve had something like 30% growth every year, so it’s a sizable company now.”
Now, PredictWind has landed another contract with one of the world’s best-known sailing events, inking a six-year deal with The Ocean Race.
PredictWind will provide the tracker for The Ocean Race.
The deal will see the company providing data for The Ocean Race Europe next month, the Atlantic edition next year, before the full around-the-world race in 2027.
“We’ve been working for almost 10 years on trying to get the contract with The Ocean Race,” Bilger says.
“They typically had European suppliers that have been very well embedded in that sort of scene. As a Kiwi company, it’s quite hard to break in, and so we’re very fortunate to be able to have that opportunity to work with them.”
Bilger says it’s the technology he and his team have developed over the years that got their foot in the door with The Ocean Race in what will bring a fresh look to the event.
In previous years, fans wanting to track the progress of the boats have been able to see a 2D tracker showing where the teams are positioned, their route to that point, and an expected arrival time at the next destination.
PredictWind plans to revamp that tool with a tracking system that shows all of that, but also the best route forward and the weather awaiting the teams. This will include a 3D element that will allow fans to see exactly what sort of weather is forecast for their favourite team.
“From the beginning of the race, you’d be able to animate the boats, but also be able to see the weather in time with the boats, and not just the wind. You can look at the current, you can look at the waves, and with our animation, OT, which we’ve been working on for many years, we think it’s the best out there.
“What’s a game changer is we’re actually going to do a weather routing for each individual boat, which is what the skippers will be using, to find the fastest route to the destination and then show the weather along that weather routing.
“It’s a bit like if you’re watching a rugby match, if you make the analogy there, you’d be watching the rugby match without being able to see the try line. But now you’d be able to see the try line because you’d be able to see actually where the boats are ahead or behind.”
Christopher Reive joined the Herald sports team in 2017, bringing the same versatility to his coverage as he does to his sports viewing habits.
