Facebook

Login

Support Sailonline

If you haven't already - join the SAILONLINE YACHT CLUB!

Please also consider making a donation - all amounts are greatly appreciated!

Board » Flag Officers » Open letter to SRC.

Page: 1 2 Next

Post annotated by RainbowChaser :
This thread was moved from the category Sailonline Yacht Club.
AIS from the brainaid NMEA connection and the sailing robot.

Dear SRC,

If I recall correctly there is an option in the brainaid NMEA connection to uncheck the “AIS Filter/Send own ship”, which I understand as a mean to cut all your boat AIS infos to the “outside”.

But that option just doesn’t work.
Even with the “Send own ship” unchecked in the NMEA connection you still send/receive AIS information from your boat and the others in a race fleet.

In my opinion that is not correct at all, as the AIS should be turned on only by you, as IRL and not by default, in spite of the above mentioned (not working) option.
IRL it is also a skipper’s right.

If you want to, let’s say by safety reasons or to routing purposes, turn on the AIS, you do it then but, if you don’t want, you keep it shut down.
It is simple. It’s about data that should be kept private if/when you want it to be.

That AIS info can also be used in the routing programs (in my case, qTVlm) as a tactical aid where you get relevant data from the other boats.

The actual AIS abnormality associated with the fact that you can also get all the relevant data from all boats in a race, almost in real time (“60 seconds delay”), via the hmm’s site http://sol.hmm.iki.fi/sollog/races/ , is something that not only surpasses the real life sailing as also permits to completely robotize your boat for almost every SOL race.

In this particular chapter you are not anymore using your sailing skills for competing with the others and using the same assets as every normal skipper but, the programing ones, especially if you automate all the routing processes including a particular set of the top boats in a race for “real time” tactical purposes.
Is it fair? I don’t think so.

But more. It wasn’t/is not necessary to have any sound proof that this “auto reality” already happens in certain SOL races because, even the faint possibility of that happening was/is enough to level the odds, starting with the boat’s info that should be released and when.

In this respect the old formula for releasing boats log data - in 1 hour periods - was/is more than suitable and fair to the game.
The actual one, isn’t.

Dear SRC to finalize, two questions.

Are you willing to change the policies for the use of:

1 - AIS?
2 - Boat’s log data releasing?

Thank you.
Sail Fair.
You misunderstand the option in the NMEA proxy; it is not intended to cutoff your boat to the outside world, but rather to control how much information the proxy receives. You have to realize that the NMEA proxy is only a nice wrapper around data that is available to anyone with basic TCP networking knowledge.
Dear Schakel,

Thank you for your aditional info on AIS but it dosen't change what I think the option should give to skippers,above all, only when they need/want to use it.
Not by default.
Sail Fair.
What you see as the AIS function of the NMEA proxy is really nothing more than one more way of receiving some of the very same information that the server sends to the race client over an unencrypted TCP connection. The NMEA proxy just delivers that information in a different format, namely in NMEA sentences.

Not everybody has to rely on the proxy to get to that data. So, as was intended, the NMEA proxy levels the playing field, more than anything, because now that information is available to all, and not just to those who know where to look.
Good morning Schakel.

Again, thank you for enlightenment on the discussion.

Under the AIS technicality I brought to discussion some basic principles I resume here:

- The right to use, or not, the AIS belongs to the skipper, and only to him;

- The info gathered by the AIS - private one, I recall - should not be sent to public knowledge, especially every “60 seconds”;
- SOL main purpose is to offer a sailing simulator, not a programing, and even less a route copy/paste contest;

- You don’t solve a problem that profits/or could profit a particular set of “cyber skippers” by democratizing the error in cause to all the fleet, mainly when we all know the fleet programming skills are everything but equal.
Sail Fair.
FYI, SRC has nothing to do with brainaid's NMEA proxy or my SOL data pages.
content deleted on request of Rainbowchaser

--- Last Edited by sol at 2016-08-17 18:28:20 ---
(regarding <SOL>,<SOL-R>,<SOL-R-H>,<SOL-R-H-P> etc.) With this in mind I made flagpole. There is a SOTP flag for example, you can fly the flag if you don't use a router. There are more flags (I like the "sleepy pennant" as well: missing at least one wx by a couple of hours every day because you're sleeping). If you want a flag "I don't use hmm's sollog or similar", then by all means, create a flag for it, and hoist it on your boat. Convince others to hoist the flag too, and you have your own little "I don't use hmm's sollog or similar"-fleet with your own leaderboard.

When flagpole starts to be used much, we have an argument to create something official that serves the same purpose as the most popular flags on flagpole.

NB: Anonymous posts by "sol" have not really been causing trouble and if they did, the forum can be moderated much more easily than the sol chat.
I discourage posting as sol in the forum, even though it's still possible.

--- Last Edited by kroppyer at 2016-08-04 21:57:13 ---
Viva Markku,

Good morning.

Thank you for the info but, I already knew it.

The issue here is not who owns the servers (SOL, yours, brainaid, others) but, the disposal, exchange and public disclosure of boats real time race logs.

Please can you confirm if anybody asked me permission to disclose my boat real time race logs?

Thank you.
Sail Fair.
Viva Huib,

Good morning.

Good idea. The only problem I foresee is, in some boats, we don’t have enough rig and cables to dispose all the “I don’t/ use/have..” flags. At some point the flags area will be bigger than the sail one.

Anyhow, thank you.
Sail Fair.

Page: 1 2 Next

Please login to post a reply.

Races

Next Race: 00d 00h 00m


Current Races:

Sinbad by Balloon 2025 - Baia de l'Oiseau to Carnarvon


How ever shall I return to report with clear report to the Sultan – asked Sinbad. It must be told this island and all its fables shall be expunged from the annals of every thousand and one night. The wind howls here, and sun be none (it’s Winter, Sin, ed.) and all days from the west, but let’s launch anyway and see if we can work our SOL Balloon north as the days pass aiming for Asthralaya, where The Mahabharata tells the ancients once tested mighty weapons, about a quarter and a million qasbah away (2500nm, ed.), perhaps one month.
Race #1885
INFOby brainaid.de
SOL Balloon PARTICULARS
WX Updates:
0430 / 1030 / 1630 / 2230
Ranking: SYC - SBB
Race starts: Jul 23rd 11:00 Registration will open soon
▶ Flash
GO TO RACE

Tall Ships Races 2025 - Aberdeen to Kristiansand


Welcome to the third of four virtual Tall Ships Races in European waters which are concurrently being organized in-real-life by Sail Training International . This third race is from Aberdeen in Scotland east across the North Sea to Norway’s Kristiansand; circa 330nm in Sailonline’s magnificent 90m Barque.
NOTE: Starts and Finishes in tall ships racing are always offshore to avoid conflict with shipping and shipping lanes; online and real-life may not match exactly.
Race #1925
INFO by brainaid.de
Barque 90m PARTICULARS
WX Updates:
0430 / 1030 / 1630 / 2230
Ranking: TS - SYC
Race starts: Jul 22nd 16:00 Registration Open!
▶ Flash
GO TO RACE

Marstrand to Cowes 2025


We invite you to another race, which will kick off the third quarter of our ARCH series. We'll set off from Marstrand, Sweden, which, along with Skagen, Denmark, marks the line commonly recognised as the border separating the Baltic Sea from the North Sea. The 650nm route will take our Ripitide 50 across the North Sea and the English Channel to Cowes, England. Watch out for the fast ferries crossing the Channel from Calais to Dover 😊.
Race #1935
INFO from brainaid.de
Riptide 50 PARTICULARS
WX Updates:
0430 / 1030 / 1630 / 2230
Ranking:
ARQ3 - ARCH - SUPSOL – SYC
Race starts: Jul 21st 17:00 Registration Open!
▶ Flash
GO TO RACE

Nantucket Sprint 2025


Welcome to Nantucket, from whence Herman Melville’s Cap’n Ahab sailed round The Horn into the northern Pacific Ocean to hunt the gray whale - whose migrations are celebrated elsewhere in SOL’s Q4 schedule - he never to return. And whaling too, as the 19th C progressed, like Ahab disappeared from Nantucket as the harbour silted up and mainland Massachusetts whaling stations benefited from rail connections. But beach life, yachting and nostalgia has rescued the island from oblivion, so to celebrate leisure, SOL gives you the Nantucket Sprint - 25nm in 29er_XX’s from Great Point to Muskeget & Tuckernuck Islands across the sound to a finish just inside the mouth of the harbour. Enjoy!
Race 1936
INFO by brainaid.de
29er_XX PARTICULARS
WX Updates:
0430 / 1030 / 1630 / 2230
Ranking:
SPRQ3 - SPRCH - SUPSOL – SYC
Race starts: Jul 19th 15:00 Registration Open!
▶ Flash
GO TO RACE

Tall Ships Races 2025 - Dunkirk to Aberdeen


Welcome to the second of four virtual Tall Ships Races in European waters which are concurrently being organized in-real-life Sail Training International . This second race is from Dunkirk in France up the North Sea to Scotland’s Aberdeen; circa 400nm in Sailonline’s magnificent 90m Barque.
NOTE: Starts and Finishes in tall ships racing are always offshore to avoid conflict with shipping and shipping lanes; online and real-life may not match exactly.
Race #1924
INFO by brainaid.de
Barque 90m PARTICULARS
WX Updates:
0430 / 1030 / 1630 / 2230
Ranking: TS - SYC
RACE CLOSE: Tuesday,
July 22 at 2300 UTC.
Race starts: Jul 13th 16:00 Registration Closed
▶ Flash
GO TO RACE

Suursaari TIMED Race 2025

The first TIMED race of the northern hemisphere Summer takes us to the Gulf of Finland on a 165nm zig-zagging course beginning and ending in the seacoast village of Haukilahti and circling the island of Suursaari. It’s only appropriate that the boat for this race is Finland’s own Club Swan 50. This is a TIMEDrace so you may RE-REGISTER HEREto try again after finishing a run. You will have 13 days and 11 hours to test your skill and decision making after the race opens.
Race #1928
INFOby brainaid.de
PARTICULARS
WX Updates:
0430 / 1030 / 1630 / 2230
Ranking:
TRQ3 - TRCH - SUPSOL - SYC
RACE CLOSE: Saturday,
26 July at 23:00 UTC
Race starts: Jul 13th 12:00 Registration Open!
▶ Flash
GO TO RACE

Lake Ontario 300 Challenge 2025

Lake Ontario Offshore Racing (LOOR) welcomes Sailonline sailors (SOLers for short) to a second virtual version of a race in their annual series, the LO300. As the name implies, the LO300 is a 300nm offshore race across the length and breadth of Lake Ontario, from and back to Port Credit YC. Once again, as is our wont on Lake Ontario, a fleet of Beneteau First 36.7s is being made available to virtual racers. There is an overall prize for the SOLer who best bosses Lake Ontario over the two races hosted by Sailonline, this 300 and the Susan Hood raced back in May; so, let the competition be fierce!
Race #1931
INFOby brainaid.de
First 36.7 PARTICULARS
NAM_AWIP WX Updates:
0245 / 0845 / 1445 / 2045
Ranking: LOOR - SYC
RACE CLOSE: Wednesday,
July 23 at 2300 UTC.
Race starts: Jul 12th 15:10 Registration Open!

▶ Flash
GO TO RACE

Young Island to Great Nicobar 2025

The adventure continues as we launch this fifth leg of the RWW series, racing from Young Island to Great Nicobar on the edge of the Bay of Bengal. Get ready for a chilling start as we set sail on the seventh leg of the 2025 Ocean Championship Series! A 5200nm journey of endurance, strategy, and pure sailing excitement. This leg will be pursued aboard the Super Maxi 100v2, pushing sailors to their limits. Do you have what it takes to conquer the Indian Ocean? Join us and put your skills to the ultimate test!
PRIZE: SMPF
Race #1929
INFO by brainaid.de
Super Maxi 100 v2 PARTICULARS
WX Updates:
0430 / 1030 / 1630 / 2230
Ranking: OCQ3 - RWW - OCCH - SUPSOL - SYC
Race starts: Jul 07th 11:00 Registration Closed
▶ Flash
GO TO RACE

Go to race archive

SYC Ranking

  1. Sailonline Yacht Club Member CriticalHippo
  2. Sailonline Yacht Club Member WRmirekd
  3. Sailonline Yacht Club Member KaSToR
  4. Sailonline Yacht Club Member rafa
  5. Sailonline Yacht Club Member Kipper1258
  6. Sailonline Yacht Club Member FreyjaUSA
  7. Sailonline Yacht Club Member vida
  8. Sailonline Yacht Club Member BRENTGRAY
  9. Sailonline Yacht Club Member rumskib
  10. Sailonline Yacht Club Member Sax747

View full list

Series

Mobile Client

SYC members have the benefit of access to our mobile/lightweight web client!

The mobile client