World’s First Live 4G Streaming at Match Race Germany
Ian Williams looks back as he tries to force a penalty on Mathieu Richard. Image copyright Gareth Cooke/Subzero Images.
by Cailah Leask
Day 3 of Match Race Germany saw Mathieu Richard (FRA) French Match Racing Team securing a safe spot in the Semi Finals, after a dramatic final luffing battle with Ian Williams (GBR) Team GAC Pindar. Five skippers were however, pushed out of the event, namely Paolo Cian (ITA) Team Italia, Ian Ainslie (RSA) Team Proximo, Mads Ebler (DEN) Ebler Matchracing and Kathrin Kadelbach (GER) EWE Sailing Team have been pushed out of the event. Richard can now take a well earned rest during the Quarter Finals, which will feature Ian Williams (GBR) Team GAC Pindar, Adam Minoprio (NZL) ETNZ/BlackMatch Racing, Torvar Mirsky (AUS) Mirsky Racing Team, Peter Gilmour (AUS) YANMAR Racing, Magnus Holmberg (SWE) Victory Challenge and Jesper Radich (DEN) Radich Racing Team.
“It was down to our last match against Ian Williams on whether we would go straight to the semi-finals or have to sail the quarter finals. We are lucky to have our coach here with us analysing our performance and the other teams, so we are constantly learning”, said a cool and calm Richard at the Quarter Finals boat draw.
Crystal clear skies and unbroken sun brought a glorious shine to the enchanted Alpine lake today. Fans of the ISAF World Match Racing Tour (WMRT) have been able to share these stunning visuals beamed to them across the world using cutting edge technology. The Tour has joined forces with global telecommunications giant, Alcatel-Lucent, to stream the Match Race Germany event live over the Internet using the latest LTE (Long Term Evolution) 4G Technology. This is the first time in the world that a German sports event has used the end-to-end LTE network solution. The next generation technology replaces the traditional complex, slower solution for streaming video at sports events. Originally, streaming relied on 3G technology at 380kbps but with 4G, the speed has increased to a remarkable 100Mbps.
Dr. Erich Zielinski who works in the End-to-End 4G/LTE Solutions division at Alcatel-Lucent is thrilled to be able to put the company’s expertise in LTE 4G technology in use during the Tour. “The quality of the video streams captured by onboard cameras and transmitted via LTE to the on-shore production studio has been excellent. The WMRT is a great opportunity to showcase the amazing value that LTE can provide for major sports events”.
Pierre Orphanidis, Editor of Valencia Sailing, related the impact of 4G streaming. "Once again, the WMRT is taking the lead and showing the sailing world the way to go with TV production and web streaming. I think Russell Coutts and Larry Ellison should take note of what is going on at Match Race Germany and apply it to the next America's Cup. What I like the most is the superb quality of the images and sound from on-board the racing yachts”.
Bowman Yannick Simon calls the overlap for Mathieu Richard in their match against Paolo Cian. Image copyright Gareth Cooke/Subzero Images.
Members of the public at the Match Race Germany event village watched the live streaming on big screens and were keen to share their views. “It is a great visual display of what is happening on the water, the on-board filming is a great advancement”. A Mirsky Racing crew’s family here with him said, “The different views on the live streaming provided an all-round experience, showing course overviews and on-deck filming”.
Meanwhile, Richard will be using his free time tomorrow to try and view the live streaming, “The live streaming is terrific for the Tour. It allows our family and friends at home to see the action and follow what we are doing. The pictures transmitted are really good quality, with user friendly commentary by Mark Chisnell that the non-sailors can also understand”.
Scheduled tomorrow the Quarter Finals put Gilmour up against Mirsky where sparks will fly as the fellow Australians fight it out. Gilmour foresaw a semi final slot for his YANMAR Racing Team earlier in the event and it may be the youngster who gets to prove this prediction wrong. Minoprio will have his work cut out against the legendary Holmberg with Williams taking on Radich.
According to Richard the key to winning the 2010 Tour is to have the right balance between remaining relaxed, while at the same time being totally concentrated, “This is a very fragile balance”.
Video Highlights of Day Three of Match Race Germany 2010
Day 3: Results
Semi Finalist
Mathieu Richard (FRA) French Match Racing Team
Quarterfinalists
Adam Minoprio (NZL) ETNZ/BlackMatch Racing v Magnus Holmberg (SWE) Victory Challenge
Ian Williams (GBR) Team GAC Pindar v Jesper Radich (DEN) Radich Racing Team
Peter Gilmour (AUS) YANMAR Racing v Torvar Mirsky (AUS) Mirsky Racing Team
Overall Round Robin Standings
1 Mathieu Richard (FRA) French Match Racing Team 8-3
2 Adam Minoprio (NZL) ETNZ/BlackMatch Racing 8-3
3 Ian Williams (GBR) Team GAC Pindar 8-3
4 Peter Gilmour (AUS) YANMAR Racing 7-4
5 Torvar Mirsky (AUS) Mirsky Racing Team 7-4
6 Jesper Radich (DEN) Radich Racing Team 7-4
7 Magnus Holmberg (SWE) Victory Challenge 6-5
8 Paolo Cian (ITA) Team Italia 5-6
9 Ian Ainslie (RSA) Team Proximo 4-7
10 Mads Ebler (DEN) Ebler Matchracing 3-8
11 Kathrin Kadelbach (GER) EWE Sailing Team 2-9
12 Bjorn Hansen (SWE) Gill Global Team 1-10
Match Race Germany
World Match Racing Tour
