Update II from Race Chair

[tboussie]

Another update from the SSS virtual race deck.

In general, there are encouraging signs that things are beginning to loosen up and that the CG is starting to allow racing on the Bay again (yeah!). That said, it is still on a county-by-county basis and individual races are subject to CG approval.

We remain committed to a full SSS racing season and are working to reschedule the RTR and SH Farallones races, as well as to complete the remaining season races. We are working with the YRA to find a suitable Saturday for the rescheduled RTR - targeting some time in June.

Even if we get approval to run the RTR, it is likely that there will have to be some modifications to to the standard racing format to insure proper social distancing for the RC. In addition, we are also planning to implement measures to reduce some of the boat-on-boat conflicts we saw in the Corinthian race this year. As Race Chair, I welcome the opportunity to work with the full SSS community to come up with a workable solution to these challenges.

Feel free to PM me or post your suggestion here. I am really looking forward to seeing you all out there again, the soon the better.

Tom Boussie
RC, SSS

 

[BobJ]

Thanks Tom. You took on the job of Race Chair at an "interesting" time.

Round-the-Rocks starts in the Bay from a committee boat. Hard for R/C crew to stay six feet apart on a boat, and impossible on the Richmond YC platform for the finish. Maybe skippers take their own finish times (like Half Moon Bay), with one R/C person on the RYC platform taking a random sample of finish times to keep skippers honest.

Not sure for the start, I'll think that one over.

 

[NearMiss]

You may want to look at using GPS tracks and replay software to become your "RC". There is a program called GPS Action Replay, I have not used it for awhile. If I remember correctly it is from France and is not very expensive, around $40 and written to run sailboard races. THer are probably other programs out there that is just the one I know of. Each boat needs a GPS that that records a track. The boat records their own track and then emails that track to the "RC", you can then calculate the actual start and finish time from the GPS track. If you want to reduce boat contact you can stagger the start times by giving each boat an assigned time to pass the starting point. I used it years ago with some J105's and we could replay races to analysis each boats performance in the race.

Cheers,
Don

 

[Intermission]

You may want to look at using GPS tracks and replay software to become your "RC". There is a program called GPS Action Replay, I have not used it for awhile. If I remember correctly it is from France and is not very expensive, around $40 and written to run sailboard races. THer are probably other programs out there that is just the one I know of. Each boat needs a GPS that that records a track. The boat records their own track and then emails that track to the "RC", you can then calculate the actual start and finish time from the GPS track. If you want to reduce boat contact you can stagger the start times by giving each boat an assigned time to pass the starting point. I used it years ago with some J105's and we could replay races to analysis each boats performance in the race.

Sequoia YC had a member who wrote a similar program; they were using it for their beer cans, and then watching the replay on a large screen in the bar after the race.

 

[brianb]

I have a very nice chart plotter from Garmin. It records tracks reliably. Is it ok to just mail in a photo of the screen ? The hardware accessory that records a file is not inexpensive.

 

[solosailor]

Problem with electronic tracking is electronics fail. I think a single RC person would be enough if the starts were spread out enough and a few video cameras running.

 

[NearMiss]

We just used handheld GPS, Garmins mostly. Most everyone had one and they were easier to transfer the track to a PC than most of the chart plotters.

 

[Black Jack]

What about a video camera set up recording the starting and finishing time with a time stamp in video. It could be a race committee of two or three. a committee member could start the camera with an open mic reading the sail numbers as they crossed start and finish line. The video could be uploaded to youtube and published here on the this site along with the results. Skippers could report their corresponding times to race committee finishing out the completeness. Corinthian rules apply. It also would serve for the future when we return to normal and as a safety catch. I would be glad to do the first one along with another experienced SSS race committee member.

Ted

 

[todd22123]

SSS is probably close to being able to run races with fewer RC persons when fixed marks are used for start finish. I have been recording for some time GPX tracks on Garmin GPS. This is a capability that many have, and the Jibeset already has an option to upload the GPX for the "race replay." With Google Earth, images like this can be made and questions answered. What time did the boat cross the line off GGYC? About 1:55:14 local time.



How close did that boat get to SE Farallon Island? About 2000 ft.



It would be good to agree to a common expectation of how often the GPS track will record a location. For both my Garmins, one handheld and one installed, there is a maximum of 9999 data points on a track which would allow one to record every 5 seconds for over 13 hours.

 

[Submarino]

Can you please describe the boat-on-boat circumstances for those of us who did not hear or witness. It will help with suggestions.

 

[BobJ]

Can you please describe the boat-on-boat circumstances for those of us who did not hear or witness. It will help with suggestions.

Here's one place to start reading about what happened:

https://www.sfbaysss.org/forum/showthread.php?2383-Corinthian-Race-2020&p=25493#post25493