Awesome research. I have similar quibbles about photo finish cameras in sports and written about them [0].

There are usually tons of rules in sport about the equipment, the Race course etc . but how exactly the finish needs to be set up is often vague. In this case it was an alignment issue at fault. But the next problem is the arbitrary resolution finish cameras work at. How wide is the pixel slot? This can be the difference between calling a tie or a small margin.

[0] https://www.rowinginmotion.com/thoughts-fairness-rowing/