I've raced several times using the AMB or similar system. These events have been in the USA and 6 different countries. I do not recommend it.
In Europe it is used because the most popular classes are 30 minute V-Boat racing. The AMB should do a better job of counting laps than a person.
The problem is that to get accuracy, the wire has to be near the boats. If the water gets rough, the boats tear down the wires. Even if the water is not rough, when two boats tangle up in the front straight, the wires can be ripped down. This happened several times this past season in Dessau. Each time the wires were ripped down, it took time to restore the wires and reset the computer.
I've seen the wires hit by V-boats, deep vees, and riggers. Even a 20 rigger moving fast will do a lot of damage to the AMB system if it jumps off a roller and hits the wire. Gas boats sit so high in the water that they should probably have to slow down before crossing under the wires.
At every other race I've attended, there were similar problems. Remember, AMB or similar systems are used frequently in Europe. It is not like they don't know what they are doing.
At times when I've been at an AMB system event, the racers that did not have their own transponder, rented a transponder at the site. On two different occasions at two different races, using two different systems, I was told to not use a certain transponder as it was "slow". If you want to get a good time, find which transponder the host club recommends.
I have seen an AMB system call a boat for a jump start when the boat was clearly behind the line. I've seen an AMB system call a boat as the winner when it clearly was not the winner.
At two different races I was told that if I wanted to get a good reading, I should be sure to cross under the wire in lanes 3, 4, or 5. Remember, these were races that used the AMB systems frequently.
The AMB or similar systems can be a big help, but they are far from perfect. You will still need judges to verify each and every race. You will still have arguments when the AMB system makes one call and the judge over rules it. Plus, unless you are very lucky, you will lose a few hours of race time fixing the things that go wrong.
What does that tell you about AMB or similar systems?
If you have a large number of boats entered, you can't afford to lose the time. If you don't have a large number of entries, you can't afford to pay for the system.
These systems do not correct problems, they create different problems.
Al Hobbs