Building a scoring system for Red Bull King of the Air meant creating software that works under tough conditions.

When 18 world-class kitesurfers are launching 25 meters into the air in high winds for international broadcast audiences, things need to run smoothly.

We replaced an unreliable legacy system with something that worked offline, updated in real-time, and was super-reliable.

The solution? Build a simple system using PostgreSQL, Django, Vue.js, and Bootstrap, with a few scripts to tie it all together.

Real-world deployment taught us valuable lessons.

Clear UI matters more than elegant code.

Idempotence is critical when dealing with duplicate data under pressure.

"Do the simplest thing that could possibly work" saved our bacon many times.

The takeaway extends beyond sports applications:

design for your constraints, communicate your assumptions, and sometimes boring wins over brilliant.

Also: Wear sunscreen.