Virtually watching boats go by

In what is believed to be a world first, computers will provide full coverage of the Louis Vuitton Pacific Series yacht races.

The coverage of the regatta, which began on Friday in Auckland and ends on February 14, is the first virtual sports broadcast, says Ian Taylor, director of production firm Taylormade Media.

"It's an expensive process to do coverage with live cameras everywhere. So we're using a whole lot of computer graphics with a few live pictures the complete opposite of normal coverage."

"Blue-box" tracking units on the yachts gather data on their movements, such as their direction, roll and pitch. The data is transmitted and fed into computer graphics software to recreate the action for viewers.

The Virtual Spectator software created by Mr Taylor's other company, Animation Research, has been used to generate animation for America's Cup coverage. But a switch to tracking units made by Dunedin company Igtimi has raised its potential, he says.

The use of the older units from overseas also meant that there was a 30-second delay in coverage. The blue-box units allow for real-time updates.

"In Valencia [America's Cup 2007], the box we used to track yachts was the size of a chilly bin; this one is much, much smaller.

"We've just used it in Dubai for tracking powerboats going at 200 kilometres an hour. It's built to be used on racing boats and yachts."

Overseas yachting clubs have expressed interest in using the technology to cover events and Rowing New Zealand is exploring how it might be used, particularly in the rowing world championships in Hamilton next year. The technology was developed for television, but sporting bodies could use it for training. "I'd love for it to be used by school sports teams."

The series is known as the friendly regatta, and this camaraderie has extended to behind-the-scenes, Mr Taylor says. He mooted the idea of a virtual broadcast only the week before Christmas and New Zealand on Air moved fast to make it happen.

TVNZ and Louis Vuitton had gifted about $250,000. Auckland City Council and Tourism Auckland chipped in $15,000 towards a 3D reconstruction of Auckland's centre city and harbour. Wellington's Terralink gifted land data.

- © Fairfax NZ News