This technology came from Boeing, which in an effort to regain its high-tech profile and aeronautical dominance, asked its engineers to help rescue the America's Cup from Europe, where first the Italians and then the British had held it. On deck, the Eagle's crew of five trims the sails, aided by load sensors connected to each sheet. For the helmsmen, the difference between target speed and actual performance is registered as a plus or minus number. The best helmsmen are able to keep actual speed even with the theoretical polar speed. Many helmsmen have learned this skill by putting in long hours on race simulators.
Computer simulations are an interesting story.
About 15 years ago, the video game companies began receiving negative feedback for promoting their virtual war games, so the companies turned to such virtual sporting contests as sailing to fill the void. The popularity of the America's Cup races took off when armchair sailors could race their virtual boats against actual boats via their computers, using the telemetry information from the race boats. Live photography from the racecourse has been integrated with computer images of the virtual boats. In time, video game players have learned to match their skills with the professionals. In fact, a passion for the intellectual challenge of sailboat racing on the Internet has helped sailing become a big-league sport, surpassing in interest the floundering professional baseball league.