Ericsson is supplying private 5G and edge routers to the international SailGP grand-prix series of high-performance F50 catamaran races around the world. Its Cradlepoint routers will be installed in the ‘wings’ of each F50 catamaran, and communicate with hardware and software systems from Oracle (its OCI cloud infrastructure) via a local private 5G network – to deliver about 53 billion data points every race day as the championship tours the world, according to a press statement.
The setup will support IoT measurements, video footage, and other critical comms on competing boats. The SailGP competition, between a dozen F50 teams racing at up to 100 kilometres per hour in open waters, is presented as a rival to the America’s Cup, and as a counterpoint on the grounds all race teams use the same ‘one-design’ boats and share their race data with rivals – to prevent “secret arms races”, which its organisers believe dominate the America’s Cup.
Part of the tech remit is to support ‘fairness and transparency’. SailGP stated: “The real-time transportation of data directly and securely into OCI enables racers to share data with all teams, including boat speed, wind direction and course layout, and race position. This helps SailGP prevent any unfair advantages and promotes fair competition.”
SailGP has appointed Ericsson’s enterprise wireless solutions unit to provide the routers and private network. As well as race teams, the data will support umpires with live video streams to adjudicate on race protocol and “fan experiences” by providing live statistical analysis (“locations, tactics, and strategy”). SailGP initially worked with T-Mobile to test and deploy the private 5G setup on public (T-Mobile) spectrum at US events during the last championship (‘Season 4’).
It is being rolled out globally for the 2025 season (‘Season 5’), which started in the UAE in November, and stopped in New Zealand last month. The event is scheduled to tour Australia, the US (three times), Brazil, the UK, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, and Spain, before winding up again in the UAE in November. Ericsson, proclaiming the “fastest connectivity [under] the most challenging conditions”, will presumably bring national operator relationships in each country to support on/offshore comms from and between sail boats.
A briefing doc from Ericsson is available here.
SailGP said: “It was important that 5G connectivity solutions could be deployed across a diverse landscape and connect to multiple carriers. They also required a ruggedized edge router in each F50 that could withstand rough maritime conditions. For the safety of the athletes and the boat, neither may leave the dock until the F50 and its crew are fully connected and communicating.
Warren Jones, chief technology officer at SailGP, said: “SailGP continues to innovate so we can provide the best experiences for teams and fans. This requires networking technology that can keep up with the speed and intricacies of the sport. Ericsson’s private 5G combined [and] edge routers not only match the bandwidth and latency challenges of billions of data points during a race but also addresses our need to quickly deploy networks at locations across the world.
Jones added: “This reliable, scalable connectivity helps teams optimize performance and maintain fair competition while significantly enriching the fan experience through visibility into race analytics.”
Manish Tiwari, head of enterprise 5G in Ericsson’s enterprise wireless solutions business, said: “The fastest sailing event deserves the fastest possible connectivity for its crews, onshore teams, and officials. With [our] private 5G and… edge routers, that’s exactly what it will get. This collaboration… is a testament to the innovation of our connectivity products which support a wide range of use cases – whether it’s race-critical for real-time decision-making or… the best fan experience through race analytics.”
