CompetitorsTracking your race

Every boat taking part in this year's event is required to register with our our free, live tracking system so that its position in the race can be tracked. As well as keeping race officials and everyone watching at home up-to-date with progress, the system also gives competitors the opportunity to replay their race after they've finished to see where they gained (or lost) time on their rivals.

Read on to find out more about the system and how to participate.

Taking part

What equipment do I need?

Either a mobile phone or an AIS transmitter - or both!

To use our tracking app on your mobile phone, you'll need one of the following devices that's dedicated to tracking:

  • iPhone
  • Android phone with built-in GPS

If your boat has an AIS transceiver onboard, you can also use that. Once you've registered your boat for tracking (see below), we'll automatically add positions sent by your AIS device on Race Day to your track. Do bear in mind, though, that AIS coverage south of the Island is not perfect, so we recommend also running the tracking app on at least one mobile device to avoid any gaps.

Another benefit of the app is that you can have as many mobile phones running the tracking as you like, which means all the crew can take part. Also, with more tracking devices on board, you'll get a more accurate track of your course around the Island and also have some backup in case someone forgets to charge their phone before they set off from home!

The app works well on both iPhone and Android platforms, but our reccomendation is to use an iPhone where possible. Modern versions of the Android operating system have multiple layers of settings that stop you running apps in the background, which makes it a little more complicated to get the tracking working properly. However, if you follow our instructions below, you should be fine.

How do I register?

Mobile Phone: Download the latest ngTrack app from your App Store and enter the tracking ID that you'll find on the Update Your Entry page. Once you've registered and set up your phone, you'll be able to run some tests using the Race Player to make sure the tracking is working correctly.Select one of the following links for information about how to setup the software on your device:

AIS: Just enter your AIS MMSI id number on the Update Your Entry page. You can do this at any time.

How do we watch the race live?

Whether you're taking part or watching from home, on race day you can simply visit the GPS Tracking page here on the official website and watch the race using the easy-to-use Race Viewer. As well as seeing the full race unfold live and following the text commentary, you'll be able to highlight specific boats that you would like to track as they progress around the 50 nautical mile course. Tracking will commence from the first start right through to the finish. Replay and pause facilities will also be available for those interested in comparing detailed performances. 

NEW: Compete and Compare

We know that many of you like to use our tracking system to compare your performance in the race with other boats of the same type - whether you're sailing a Farr 52 or a Hunter Impala! You can do this with our upgraded our Race Viewer, which features a 'Compete & Compare' feature that gives everyone one-click access to the tracks of all the boats that match theirs. And best of all, this will all work LIVE while taking part or following the race!