Part VI: Go ahead to the future

A redevelopment of the WTP system was started in 2004 when B&G acquired Sailmath. B&Gs ownership of the WTP2 also meant new hardware and improved integration with the company’s displays via their Fastnet communications bus.

WTP2 has become the WTP3; an impressively fast and dynamic, open-ended system with serial and analogue data acquisition modules that allow almost unlimited expansion.

The new high-performance systems that were developed in the 2000’s leaned heavily on progress in general computing.

The hardware got more powerful, communications protocols improved, and the systems became much more flexible. More and different sensors could be attached, and users could develop bespoke algorithms for reading or calibrating the sensors and manipulating the data.

The changes in the wider world of computing have made this approach much more viable. The development of programming languages, the accessibility of open-source routines and DLLs has meant that apps can be built much more quickly and easily than in the past. The consequence is that these days, it’s not unusual for an America’s Cup team to start from a blank sheet of paper and build their own system to the specification required, for hardware and software – just like Dick McCurdy did in 1970.

The final element is the display technology, which has taken advantage of the immense progress that has occurred in screens generally. The latest generations of on-deck screens like B&G’s Zeus and more recently Nemesis displays take lightweight, waterproof, versatility, customisable data visualization, high-resolution and responsiveness to levels undreamt of by the pioneers of the 1970s and 1980s with their flickering green cursors and visible pixels.

NEMESIS – B&G

There’s still plenty to do, and we can look forward to another exciting decade in the world of sailing instruments.

For Dahlberg S.A., who has been servicing yacht’s electronics equipment since its inception, it will be an honour to continue evolving along with the new sailing instruments systems that the future will bring.

The question is: What do you think the new teams will be able to do?

SOURCE: NAVICO

If you haven’t read the Part V, The R-evolution of the sensor, it’s here.