Andy Rice

With 39 nations competing, the Para World Sailing Championships have been forging ahead, this year held as part of the ever-popular Kiel Week

While most of the sailing world’s eyes have been on Bermuda, I’ve been enjoying the Cup from a distance, firstly in Santander for some TV commentary at the World Sailing Cup Finals for the Olympic classes, and then at Kiel Week in northern Germany.

The incredible America’s Cup TV coverage has been doing the whole sport a massive favour. The budgets we’re operating on for Santander or Kiel are tiny compared with the money they’ve been dropping on the Cup, but the superb Live Line augmented reality technology that so beautifully illustrated the racing in Bermuda is perhaps not that many years away from lower level TV coverage of the sport.

For Santander, there is unfortunately a blanket ban on flying drones, something that’s becoming increasingly regulated – and with good reason. But having access to drone footage really adds another dimension to understanding a race. You can see the dark water, where the biggest puffs are, and you can get a tactical overview of the course that the competitors would love to see. The tactical and strategic options all look so obvious from above.