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    - SSS Technical Infrastructure

SSS survey has been launched thru Jibeset

S

Submarino

Whitefloat
All,
A survey has been rolled out to members & race participants. The board would like your input to help decide a few things. Primarily, it asks about powered winches and power assisted sailing. If you registered for a race or were a member in the past 2 years, you will receive an invitation from Jibeset with an embedded survey link.

If you feel you've been left off, check your spam, trash or "All mail" folders before contacting me.
[email protected].

Thank you,

Joe Balderrama
Express 27 "Archimedes"
SSS Commodore
 
Joe good job. I just took the SSS survey on Jibeset. As a former Race Chair I like the idea of using Berkeley Circle as a start and finish for the Three Bridge Fiasco. My thinking is Pro’s, less current at start waiting for the wind to fill. More room around the start and finish & restricted box to both sides of the line. Spreads the fleet out before city front commercial traffic. Except for tradition can’t think of any Con’s...Rick
 
Lightspeed said:
I just took the SSS survey on Jibeset. As a former Race Chair I like the idea of using Berkeley Circle as a start and finish for the Three Bridge Fiasco. My thinking is Pro’s, less current at start waiting for the wind to fill. More room around the start and finish & restricted box to both sides of the line. Spreads the fleet out before city front commercial traffic. Except for tradition can’t think of any Con’s...Rick
Click to expand...

I haven't seen the SSS survey, so I do not know what the question(s) were.

At least one potential issue for finishing Three Bridge Fiasco on the Berkeley Circle is can the Race Committee boat remain on station while RC tracks down the problem-boats that did not check-out from the course? (e.g., checked-in, started, and then DNF'd and didn't let RC know they were dropping out). Historically there have been a small number of boats (less than 10 some years) that didn't tell us they abandoned the race and went home - RC would then spend 2-3 hours tracking them down via telephone to verify they were at the dock, safe, and accounted for. Having RC on the boat all day means that you can't swap in/out RC members through the day. Probably can't conveniently videotape the start/finish either, depending on how bouncy the RC boat is.

It's relatively easy to do the above at Golden Gate YC, it might be an entirely different matter on a windy cold night out on the Berkeley Circle.

On the plus side, VHF communications might be improved from an RC boat on station at Berkeley Circle.

Moving the start away from the City Front does change the dynamics of which way to go - unlikely many boats would still aim for Blackaller, and instead the start becomes TI or Red Rock first?

- rob/beetle
 
Rob, great points. Good to hash this out early as SSS TBF is not just another race but for many the first intro to shorthanded sailing. I am “assuming” GGYC may be closed or limited occupancy so RC may need to be in remote mode anyway in 2021.

I am not a tech guy but seems like SSS could create a link (internet or other) from RC boat to a land RC. And yes, it is a long race with lots of eyes needed so may be an RC shuttle boat will be needed or a second RC boat on either end of the pin would be supper!

On the flip side as a racer, it will be fun to have a new direction and wind challenge. I am in either way. Would be good to hear from old racers, new racers & race deck before deciding...Rick
 
You end up having to call some skippers anyway. Of course the Circle start will be the singlehanders and they're the salt of the earth - they wouldn't dream of not calling in their DNF!

We didn't have check-ins for the 2014 3BF and things ran remarkably smoothly, even with only one finisher out of 357 entries! SSS may be the only club that insists on having check-ins for Bay races. It's purely a feel-good thing - not necessary.
.
 
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Mixed feelings on SSS checkin’s. Out the Gate SHF, DB & HMB I felt was needed for USCG & to sleep well as Race Chair. In the Bay however, just thinks of how many people sail the Bay unsupervised every day! TBF is unique not so much for out the gate safety but just for trying to account for all the entrants. Rick
 
BAMA, OYRA, & the SSS all require check-ins for ocean races. OYRA includes a requirement for the number of crew onboard that must match a boat's Jibeset entry number. There is a C.G. requirement to account for all boats by the end of the permit period. In my experience in-Bay races vary. The Sausalito YC requires beer can boat to sail by their committee boat and visually/orally check in. The Corinthian YC requires check-ins and for their recent "Fall Series" expanded radio check-ins to include a cell phone check-in. They both require a "check out" if a boat doesn't finish. The idea of a telephone check-in might be explored. I'm sure the CYC would be happy to share their experience.

Having run several early 3-Bridges here are some random thoughts. The height/elevation of the GGYC race deck allows a chance to see overlapped boats; a water-level view doesn't. Even the parking lot in from of the GGYC (when the SSS couldn't use the GGYC deck) is elevated. A video camera on a boat is a moving viewer as opposed to a stationary camera onshore. Will the SSS always be able to secure an adequate committee boat for a OC line? And will that boat's VHF be working well? How many race committee folks are there? And what size boat?

An OC Start will dramatically change 3-Bridge strategies. Red Rock will become the "new" Blackaller for a 1st mark?
 
The survey suggestion is not to move the start from the city front but to have TWO separate starting areas, one for DH @ GGYC and one for Singlehanded on the BYC. I said stick with the traditional start for the reasons stated...... especially the difficulty of having a boat on station all day.
 
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I voted that I didn't have a strong opion about splitting the start. However, if one start/finish was at the north end of Treasure Island, near the little cove/launch ramp, there's a fair bit of parking and open space there. A pop-up tent could be set up behind some cars, and a temporary buoy set 100 yards off the shore. Also, a couple hundred yards south along the east shore of TI, there's a parking area at the end of 13th street with room for a couple of cars and a tent.

Also on TI, near the intersection of Avenue N. and 3rd street ther'es quite a bit of parking on the side of Avenue N. and there's even a picnic table in the trees. Cars can be parked and a tent set up.. Setting up a temporary buoy 100 yards off the shore shouldn't be too difficult.

I have a table and a pop-up 10 x 10 tent that the SSS can borrow. Just make sure that the tent is weighted down!

Also a pretty heavy-duty, not "pop-up" (it takes some assembly) 10 x 10 tent with sides is < $100 on ebay. I've put these up, though not in 30 knots of wind, and it takes two people about 30-45 minutes to get the thing up and going.

Race Marks...

https://www.etpracemarks.com/standard-race-marks/tetrahedron-tear-drop-race-marks/

around $300 but easy to store.
or just a really big orange fender.... about $350 at WM.
 
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I'm not racing singlehanded in the Fiasco but if I did I'd want the GGYC start/finish. If it were anywhere else it wouldn't be such a puzzle. Thanks Ants!
 
I tend to agree. Unless your boat rates 129 or 150 the GGYC start isn't TOO bad.

Or I have amnesia...
 
solosailor said:
The survey suggestion is not to move the start from the city front but to have TWO separate starting areas, one for DH @ GGYC and one for Singlehanded on the BYC.
Click to expand...

From the jibeset race entry data, in 2020 35 out of 317 boats were singlehanded, in 2019 44 out of 333 boats, in 2018 34 out of 359 entries.

I suggest that there are two reasons to NOT move the Three Bridge Fiasco singlehanded division to an alternative start line:

1. the start is already staggered as it is a reverse PHRF start spread over several hours, you don't have all 317+ boats headed off the line at once.

2. it's not worth the effort to segregate 11% (on average) of the fleet - the gains in perceived safety as a result of fleet separation (given the fleet is already separated at the start by PHRF value) are not worth the effort to put a committee boat and RC in the Berkeley Circle for the duration of the race while an entire other RC is set up at GGYC.

The problem with Dave Herrigel's boat ocurred in Corinthian Race and is not relevant to Three Bridge Fiasco. The Corinthian race in 2020 put all boats on a common course (Three Bridge Fiasco does not do this) and the starts combine clumps of singlehanders and doublehanders by PHRF at 5 minute intervals (which Three Bridge does not do - the start times are spread out). That said, you don't want doublehanders being so competively over-amped that they drive a singlehander in to the rocks (for that matter, you don't want the reverse to happen either); this would be something to remind the fleet of at the skipper's meeting - "Give each other a break, everyone is sailing short-handed, some shorter than others, and this yacht race is not worth breaking your boat over".

- rob/beetle
 
To your points:

1. It's not just the start. The riskiest and most intimidating situation is when you have to short-tack solo up around Pier 39 from YBI, or up the City front towards Blackaller, with a bunch of double-handers, especially those racing in one of the large OD fleets. They are aggressive and in my experience they don't give singlehanders much consideration, assuming they even notice we're singlehanded. Starting on the Berkeley Circle makes it far less likely that singlehanders will encounter large numbers of double-handers at the above pressure points. It's possible we'd encounter them going in the opposite direction but then tacking duels wouldn't be an issue. So yes, this is directly relevant to what happened to Hedgehog and to what has happened to me with the Express 27s.

2. The goal of the change would be to give singlehanders priority and encourage more of them to participate. SH participation in the 3BF is low because the GGYC start and the above pressure points are difficult and risky for singlehanded skippers, especially if they have to start at the same time as one of the large OD fleets.

It would be helpful if 3BF skippers were reminded of these issues at the skippers' meeting, but the majority of them don't attend.

Rob, I realize it has been many years since you encountered these issues on the water - they are not apparent from the race deck.
 
"We are considering using Berkeley Circle as a separate start/finish line for Singlehanded entries. This will help race committee members stay physically distanced for Covid."
Sounds reasonable.

Return to the original format in 22.
 
The issues of having a committee boat bobbing around on the Berkeley Circle are valid issues. At the GGYC, someone can show up early in the morning for race committee, work until 11:00 or so and leave. Another crew can show up around 2:00 or 3:00 and stay until 7:00 and finish boats. Except for the Race Chair and maybe one or two others, it's not a 12-hour commitment. But if you're sitting on a committee boat on the Berkeley Circle, you're stuck for 12 hours. I, personally wouldn't volunteer for that, but I've volunteered for morning or evening slots at the GGYC many times.

If you run a start line off of the east side of Treasure Island, people can come and go, just like they can at the GGYC. Also, it's pretty darned hard to stay physically distanced on a boat....ANY boat unless it's a 40+ footer. On land, it's easy.

IF...in fact the Board decides to split the singlehanders from the doublehanders. IF. Whether that's necessary for the 3BF, I'm not gonna comment on.
 
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