00:00SailGP Insights takes a data lab to every Sail Grand Prix.
00:05This lab conceals the best kept secrets of SailGP's fleet.
00:10This room receives data from 1,300 sensors placed on board the F-50s.
00:18Teams can see each other's data,
00:21but only those who know what to look for will find the key to success.
00:26The best sailors in the world know this room as the Grand Prix Vault.
00:35In season three, we started the season with all the boats being close to the line.
00:40And the New Zealanders, they were struggling at the start.
00:44Look at that, dejected, burling, look at him, he can't believe it again, they're just not delivering.
00:49And three or four events in New Zealand had a different approach.
00:54They figured out how to get off that start line way better than anyone else,
00:59and they were just absolutely off.
01:01New Zealand is first dominating the start and marked number one.
01:05It's a great start from the Kiwis, first to mark one.
01:08New Zealand are flying to the start line from far back with a lot of pace.
01:12A slingshot approach, if you like. It is harder to pull off.
01:16We're trying to hit the line with a lot of speed,
01:19and therefore needing a lot of a run up to try to be the fastest boat on the line.
01:24You have to have gaps open up for you if you go for that approach,
01:27and you have to be very good with your timing.
01:29And it's easier said than done.
01:31They've got their starts timed perfectly.
01:33What are they doing better than everyone else to be first at the gun?
01:36What is their pre-start strategy?
01:39In the start procedures, they've got always the same strategy.
01:43So basically they enter in the box, go away from the line, and tack.
01:48And the timing of this tack is quite critical.
01:52No matter what, we're going to tack where we can kill 40 seconds.
01:56Keep Burling, Blair, too, because they're just nailing it.
01:58Every time, like, clockwork. 40 seconds time to kill.
02:00And it's New Zealand crossing the line in first in Singapore.
02:04They're becoming real contenders this season,
02:07and the data is showing us that one of their best-capped secrets
02:11is how they've mastered their time to kill.
02:14Time to kill. Yeah, it should be the name of a book.
02:18If it's not already, it should be. But it matters so much.
02:21We've got two things that the teams are using
02:24to be able to do their run up to that start line.
02:27There's the time to start, which is the countdown.
02:30And then there's time to kill, which is the time that they need to get rid of
02:34before they pull the trigger and say, let's go to that start line.
02:38Well, the race will start in 60 seconds.
02:41Team New Zealander 20 seconds away.
02:43So that means they have to kill 40 seconds.
02:46This has been their formula all season long.
02:49These timings seem to be part of their secret recipe.
02:52So it was this perfect formula that they had on the team.
02:56It worked so well for New Zealander.
02:58They won the most races coming into San Francisco.
03:02Welcome to the scenic San Francisco Bay.
03:05Three races today and two more tomorrow will decide the final three teams
03:08to fight for the winner-take-all grand finale and the $1 million prize.
03:14So here we go. 46 seconds to go before the start of race number one in the
03:18Sail GP season three finale.
03:20For most of the season, the Kiwis have been tacking 40 seconds before they pull the trigger.
03:25But now we've passed that mark and they still haven't tacked.
03:28What is going on?
03:30We were surprised then that in San Francisco they changed their tactic completely.
03:34Kiwis are still heading towards the boundary and they're in the opposite direction to the fleet.
03:39Their time to kill is getting shorter and shorter.
03:42The rest of the fleet, they're all doing their tack back to the line.
03:46And then New Zealanders are now the last boat that is sort of approaching that boundary.
03:51And finally, New Zealand decide to tack towards the line, but they're behind everyone else.
03:57This is a totally different strategy to what we've seen so far this season.
04:02We don't know why. Maybe it was because of the venue, because of something we don't really know.
04:07That's all the way to start your grand final weekend.
04:11Yeah, like why would you change something that works, right?
04:14What were they doing?
04:16Is it the pressure of the $1 million prize pot that's getting to Blair Took and Peter Berlin?
04:21Totally not the formula they had been using. And their start sucks.
04:26I wonder what their time to kill is when they turn back.
04:30Oh, the pre-start of race two and it seems to me that the Kiwis are going to be late again.
04:35For some reason, in San Francisco, you look at the box on the graphic and the data, 20 seconds time to kill.
04:4216 seconds sometimes.
04:44As we head towards Mark 1 in race two, New Zealand are back in sixth.
04:49It's just making their races... bad.
04:56Definitely switched for a more conservative procedure.
05:01I don't know why.
05:03I don't know why.
05:05Race number three, New Zealand, well they need to make something happen.
05:09They've not found any momentum in the pre-starts.
05:11Oh, again, they're right at the back.
05:14If you're one of the late approaching boats, you run out of choices and options quickly.
05:20Yeah, I wouldn't say that was our best work in those starts.
05:24New Zealand guys, it's a shocker for me as they are back in seventh.
05:28Could changing their successful starting procedure be a million dollar mistake?
05:33Right now, it's just like they're struggling.
05:41It's day two and it's the final fleet race before the series grand final here in San Francisco.
05:48These are two key races for New Zealand.
05:50I think that the Kiwis are going to need to review their previous start line data.
05:54They need to fix what's been going on with their poor starts this weekend.
05:59One style of starting, it doesn't always work.
06:02It's trying to decide when you do which one.
06:06You've got to be super adaptable to your strategy.
06:09But one thing that you can do is decide your tolerance for risk.
06:17New Zealand with the early tack.
06:19They're one of the boats closer to the start line.
06:21In front of most of the fleet.
06:23This is what we're used to seeing from the Kiwis.
06:27More in control.
06:28So they're going back to their normal procedure.
06:30Race five and New Zealand once again tacking aggressively towards the front of the fleet.
06:36Certainly the data available helps us to show the patterns of what's happening in different scenarios.
06:43And then I guess it comes down to us as to how we want to use that.
06:47What that sort of signals to me is that perhaps day one of San Francisco,
06:51they were taking a lower risk approach.
06:53Stay out of trouble, stay out of congestion and preserve the asset for the final.
06:58And the Kiwis go into the pre-start of the Sail GP Season 3 Grand Final with their boat intact.
07:04And having warmed up their classic pre-start routine, ready for that million dollar race.
07:11They never cease to surprise us, these Kiwis.
07:14It's fascinating what's happened and changed in sailing over the last 30 years.
07:18And it's changing even faster than it has over the last 10 years.
07:21Watch for the line to turn right. Go in the million dollar race here in San Francisco.
07:27We're a group that aren't afraid to make changes.
07:30That's how we approach every aspect of our sport.
07:34Understanding the data on the water during races, it's incredible.
07:38And who knows what's going to happen with AI in the future is changing quickly.
07:42...quickly.
