green light?

On to Taupo and eventually the World for RaceRanger? Kiwi co-founders

Dylan McNiece and James Elvery are quietly confident so.

It’s been a blight on long distance triathlon since, well, the start of long distance triathlon. Thankfully, a Kiwi start-up has galloped over the horizon with a clever tech solution to save the day, the very integrity of our sport.

RaceRanger’s world premiere at January’s Tauranga

Half was widely hailed. The drafting detection system got its second outing and none other than Sebastian Kienle’s weighty seal of approval at Challenge Wanaka on Feb.18. The former world Champ will test it again at Ironman NZ on March 4 and thereafter, fingers crossed, RaceRanger will be rolled out around the globe. The cheaters, those blatant or blissfully unaware, are officially on notice.

How does it work?

Small electronic units measure drafting distances between bikes. Each athlete has two devices, one mounted on a front fork, the other on the seatpost. The rear device features three coloured LED lights which change colour depending on how close the following rider is getting. The system can be set to pre-determined drafting distances and will eventually send data to technical officials remotely via a tablet app. That’s the kicker – soon any human ambiguity will be taken out of rulings.

The Tech

The technology encased within each unit is complex and has taken more than six years to develop. It combines GPS, Bluetooth, Ultrawide-band, NFC and wireless charging, as well as an accelerometer and thermometer. RaceRanger is the brainchild of former Kiwi elite triathletes Dylan McNiece and James Elvery who now operate under Precision Triathlon Systems (they’re onto a winner if any shrewd investors are reading). The system has been built predominantly in Christchurch with the assistance of the University of Canterbury’s Wireless Research department, with additional input from World Triathlon.

Tauranga Feedback

Two thirds of the 20 athletes who trialled the system at the Tauranga Half reported RaceRanger working perfectly. The Technical Officials on motorbikes also liked what they saw. Inevitably, there were a few tech glitches with a couple of riders reporting lights turning off for minutes at a time before correcting themselves and resuming normal operations. Groups of riders travelling in opposition directions also reported the systems interfering with each other’s function. “The engineering team are now working through these issues and we hope to have them ironed out before Challenge Wanaka,” said Elvery. The testimonies in the slick UpStreamFilms video above suggests it was mission accomplished down South.

Global/Age group rollout?

Precision Triathlon Systems have 40 sets of units, with the parts poised to produce another 80 sets. “With 120 sets we’ll be able to serve pretty much any pro race around the world through the rest of 2023 which is our goal for this year,” Elvery said. “Eventually we’d like to see it on the age groupers as well but this is likely a 2024 addition. Refining the system and adding live tracking functionality are our current focus.”