TT Great Race to be streamed live

FOR the first time, the TT Great Race will be available for viewing to an online audience.

The 51st staging of the event will be held on Saturday, from Williams Bay, Chaguaramas and ending at Store Bay, Tobago.

It will be live streamed from the start time at 7 am on the Trinidad and Tobago Powerboat Association's (TTPBA) Facebook page. It is a public page, so a Facebook account is not required to gain access to its contents.

Speaking with Newsday, TTBPA president Marcus Gomez said in recent years, many people have been requesting a live stream for the event and he's pleased to finally make the idea a reality. A total of 25 boats will compete across three classes: 50; 60 miles per house (cruiser class), 40 mph (pirogue class), and 60, 70, 80, 95 and 130 mph in the race class.

Gomez said, "We have multiple cameras along the course and they send feedback to a base station we have in Woodbrook and we have two commentators that will be commentating based on how it goes as well as the live tracking."

He added, "The ultimate goal will be to eventually get a helicopter to follow the race to stream live, but right now that's not possible yet so we are taking it one step at a time to get to where we want to be."

The 2018 champions, Motul Monster, will not be defending their title but extended well wishes to the participants under a post on the TTPBA's Facebook page.

They said, "We giving them a chance this year, and we wish them all a safe race."