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!

Profile for outlaw



Name outlaw
Email Address n/a
AvatarUsers avatar
Posts33
  • 2020-07-09 12:18:47
    Re: Public testing new HTML5 client
    Board » General Discussion
    Using "Restore Previous Session" in Firefox completely breaks the dashboard clock "TIME UTC" and any number of thins that depend on the clock (dc countdown, predictor line etc).
  • 2018-09-13 21:48:43
    Re: VMC
    Board » General Discussion
    1. I prefer 'his'. Not that I've ever claimed to be human.
    2. The only claim is that if I sail a couple hours at a set VMC, and arrive at point A, it is fundamentally impossible to beat me to point A. Bimmer could sail to point B, then have the faster path to the finish. Happens.
    3. The causality for picking the target IS confusing. In an ocean race I could decide to go 'west', wade thru bird entrails until I come up with VMC280, and tack at TWD280 because that's how the VMC function works.

    OTOH in a round the buoys type race I could just do an SOTP estimate where/when I'm going to tack, determine the TWD @tack, and use that as the target. Post tack the boat would just point in the general direction of the mark, bearing ~240, probably.
  • 2017-11-05 11:27:33
    Re: Crossing the Finish Line
    Board » Technical Support
    The short and correct answer is that only leaderboards on the frontpage matter...

    Ranking order is updated like every 5 minutes (?).
    DTF leaderboard and fleet positions every minute.
    Actual boat positions, as in observing your own boat, every 10s (nominal, may be closer to 11-12s, and somewhat random), or every 30s (precise, 30.00s) for 'inactives'.

    The key is that updates are sequential, no two boats have the same update time.

    Now imagine three boats that are very even, then their ranking is determined by who has the most time elapsed.

    Leaderboard shows
    A xx:01:09
    B xx:01:07
    C xx:01:01

    Now update intervals are not precise, we get a roll-over

    B xx:05:09
    C xx:05:03
    A xx:05:01

    B has not sent a command for 18 min and is switched to 'inactive'

    C xx:10:07
    A xx:10:05
    B xx:09:40

    Next step we cross the line...

    C xx:10:07+2s
    A xx:10:05+4s
    B xx:09:40+29s

    Nobody gains anything.
  • 2017-01-23 09:30:47
    Re: 40' Series Championship 2017Q1 & Q2
    Board » Flag Officers » Championships
    Is there any real reason to run the full series?

    Strategy A
    Sardinia - SOTO
    Hebrides - SOTO

    Strategy B
    Sardinia - SOTO
    Hebrides - DNS

    The second option keeps the SOTO available for the full series, especially the finale.
  • 2017-01-01 22:32:45
    Re: “Clause 4” and ISAF rule #69.
    Board » Flag Officers » Rules and Decisions
    Happy new year to y'all.
    quick thoughts, again I really don't share Joao's concerns...

    1. All I see in Joao's PDFs is boats sailing VMG on TWA which is perfectly normal. Plus some noise from hmm's weather being sourced differently.

    2. If you want to show foul play, use "compare stats". Robot sailing should be really obvious on that one.

    3. Again I don't see how data logging would be particularly useful. Simply because pretty much everything can be easily extrapolated.

    4. And amazing tactical analytics would be effort. Time spent on the go-fast problem, worth it. Monumental time spent on letting the computer do tactics? I wouldn't, benefits would be dubious, and tactics is the gameplay for me anyhow.

    5. One could ask whether the forecast wind should be absolute... I say it should, because that's the requirement for set-and-forget router use, and having actual wind different from forecast would make a (now illegal) steering robot necessary.

    6. One could ask what's the difference between follow and cover... Cover is a legit tactic, and to follow is frowned upon, but where is the difference? There is a difference, but it's somewhat ill defined.
  • 2016-12-25 12:12:50
    Re: 2017 SRC Programme
    Board » General Discussion
    Merry X-mas. A couple observations. Not so much on start times, where I'm mostly indifferent. In part because I'm perfectly happy to skip a race if the big inconvenience happens 2 days down the road, not something that can be planned by the SRC... and at last starts are rather predictable. But the drop in race numbers and competitors.

    1. Poor start/finish layout
    Look no further than the upcoming Sydney-Hobart. See attachment. I think it's possible (pending final wx, and I have not run software yet) that on would need to start with a 5 minute straight line course, then turn on point. This for a 600nm ocean race. Skill involved - none. Annoyance - huge.

    2. Races are too long
    Look back at the Gray Whales. Four days of awesome racing, followed by nine days of parade. To be fair that couldn't be expected, and Mount Westdahl - Middleton Island was a classic, but tying up competitors in a race that is decided is not a good outcome. Same for many of the very long 3-4 week ocean races. One opportunity that takes forever to see through. Not good.

    3. Too long breaks between races
    I flat out disagree on the reduction of races. More races mean more opportunities, and should increase interest. Also it's just bad if someone stumbles on the site and has to wait forever for the next start. The average gap between races in Q1 - (sigma t^2)/(sigma t) - is 4.5 days, that's too damn long.

    4. Too much focus on coastal races
    So by my count for Q1, there's 8 short round the buoy races, which I like, but honestly have nothing left to prove, 3 long ocean races, 2 medium ocean races (H2S which is impossible for me and Cairns - Darwin), and 12 medium length coastal things.

    Simply put medium coastal is probably the most router (software) friendly format, combined with the need to be online at specific waypoints. And those things make up half the schedule. IMO the best racing happens on 500-1000nm ocean legs, see BA-Rio, Abel T (thanks SRC :-) ), Gray whales, Sail Fiji (always), S2H (always) etc. December was great. Q1 is totally lacking.
  • 2016-10-21 12:52:36
    Re: VMC
    Board » General Discussion
    There's two big problems in this discussion, one being linguistic. That is Angle, Bearing, Course & Direction meaning approximately the same thing. Just how it is. Work it out yourself.

    Second is the extremely unfortunate fact that "bearing to the next mark" is somehow the default course for VMC calculations. As Rod correctly observes

    ...on any VMC course, the angle to the desired 'destination point' is constantly changing, and that therefore the calculation (or geometric estimation) of the VMC course must also be constantly repeated.

    Just don't do that. VMC to the next mark, and by extension DTF is as important as the weather in Shimane two days from now.

    My assertion is simply that if I make up some number, say 152 degrees, then express the boat speed as a course (152) vector and a normal (62) vector, then always choose the point of sail that maximizes the course vector. I call that VMC152.

    If I sail VMC152 for six hours I expect to be the 152-degree-most boat in the fleet. The corrolary is if I happen to end up at the mark, I will round the mark first.

    That leaves two minor issues, first while this works over six hours, it absolutely will not over six days.

    And second the need to get the VMC direction right, where estimating TWD at the next tack is the most obvious approach.
  • 2016-09-29 20:58:49
    Re: VMC
    Board » General Discussion
    Hi I've actually gone and made another post on the topic. Tell me what you think, maybe it's easier to understand.

    http://solfans.org/blog/sailing-by-the-numbers/vmc-revisited/

    Two comments on the last post. VMC to waypoint is pointless on a fundamental level, that's just some random bearing with no real meaning. It does matter for DTF purposes. DTF is of course also pointless.

    Once this gets us to the VMG laylines then we're on the layline??
    If I understand this right, VMG layline is when you barely make it to the mark on VMG? With a proper VMC course you will tack a bit later than that.
  • 2016-09-20 10:54:43
    Re: Open letter to SRC.
    Board » Flag Officers
    For the record the primary stat that I care about is the relative bearing, from boat outlaw to my most dangerous competitors. I use sollog as the most accurate and convenient way to aquire this bearing. A very secondary number is the relative movement among boats, also this defaults to 'away' much of the time, which makes it less useful. Everything else is irrelevant to me.

    Further I think that tactics are absolutely essential to racing, and limiting the information needed for tactics would lead to a sad shell of a game.

    Finally the main factors for sol success would be, intelligence, on both the tactical and strategic aspects of routing, streamlining, meaning less time spent on the routing / steering grind, and commitment, time spent overall and at inconvenient daytime. (My commitment is sorely lacking nowadays...)

    If there was serious abuse of AIS / bots among the top boats I think it would be highly visible, and I'm not aware of it happening.
  • 2016-09-17 13:09:38
    Re: The Tall Ship boat in fact was … a dinghy one.
    Board » Flag Officers » Rules and Decisions
    Hi, just my belated two cents...

    1. In general I'm honestly very indifferent to the performance model. In normal conditions where tacks are hours or days apart it will simply never matter. Of course you get the odd race where performance wins ( Ornö Runt :) ), that's fun. Overall, don't fix wha's not broken.

    2. There might be a misunderstanding concerning real life tall ships. These ships seem to tack poorly in light air, with 20kn of wind, meaning the bulk of the portugese coast, they should be able to perform normal tacks.

    3. Short tacking is a simple matter of geometry. You might as well complain about gravitation. For 'credibility' you could look at the Abu Dabi - China leg of the las VOR, or the San Francisco America's Cup. Bottom line is people will do as many tacks as their 'performance model' allows. Deal with it.

    4. That said the combination of really poor upwind performance (70-80 degreees TWA) and minimal perf hit makes short tacking more profitable than usual.

    5. As stated before me, Alexandria won by picking the right time to go offshore. Excellent decision making.

    6. I recall some boats doing a sawtooth pattern in open water. That puzzles me TBH. That might have been a form of protest, or a total misunderstanding how short tacking works, or a problem with their routing software. It's absolutely not a fast or sensical way to sail.

    7. You can fix short tacking with appropriate course design. I for one don't care much for long, coastal races in general. Just my opinion of course.

Races

Next Race: 00d 00h 00m

Current Races:

Raja Muda Selangor 2025 - Penang to Langkawi

Welcome to the third online race of the Raja Muda Selangor International offshore series – a 70nm final trip further north again up the Malacca Strait from Penang to the exotic island of Langkawi, and again in J-109s.
Race #1963
INFO by brainaid.de
J-109 PARTICULARS
WX Updates:
0430 / 1030 / 1630 / 2230
Ranking: RMS - SYC
Race starts: Nov 20th 04:00 Registration Open!

▶ Flash
GO TO RACE

Raja Muda Selangor 2025 - Pangkor to Penang

Welcome back on board your J-109 for our second online offshore race in cooperation with the Raja Muda Selangor International organisation – an 80nm trip from Pangkor north up the Malacca Strait to Penang.
Race #1962
INFO by brainaid.de
J-109 PARTICULARS
WX Updates:
0430 / 1030 / 1630 / 2230
Ranking: RMS - SYC
RACE CLOSE: Friday,
November 21 at 2300 UTC.
Race starts: Nov 17th 04:00 Registration Open!

▶ Flash
GO TO RACE

Raja Muda Selangor 2025 - Port Klang to Pangkor

Sailonline is delighted to be able to offer online sailors an opportunity to once again compete in all three of the offshore races of the Raja Muda Selangor International race week, organised by the Royal Selangor Yacht Club in association with the RORC, and commencing with a 75nm trip from Port Klang to Pangkor. This year we will be racing this race, and the other two, which together will count towards our Sailonline Raja Muda Series (RMS), in J-109s.
Race #1961
INFO by brainaid.de
J-109 PARTICULARS
WX Updates:
0430 / 1030 / 1630 / 2230
Ranking: RMS - SYC
RACE CLOSE: Thursday,
November 20 at 2300 UTC.
Race starts: Nov 15th 04:00 Registration Closed

▶ Flash
GO TO RACE

Africa by Sea 2025 - Suez to Port Said


When Napoleon (briefly) occupied Egypt at the turn to the 19th C, he ordered his expedition’s Directeur des Ponts et Chaussées, Jacques-Marie Le Père, to evaluate the ancient, derelict, infilled course of a Ptolemaic canal connecting the Red Sea to the Nile via the Great Bitter Lake, versus a new canal to the Mediterranean directly. Neither were considered feasible – locks to climb a pauvre-surveyed 10m sea-level difference, or continuous dredging of the Nile, would both be equally financially prohibitive. Fifty years passed before the unlikeliness of Le Père’s survey finding was challenged and a French Compagnie Universelle du Canal Maritime de Suez obtained a 99-year concession from the Khedive of Egypt, Said Pasha, to construct and operate a canal from the Red Sea to the Mediterranean, much against the will of the Ottoman Sultan, Abdulmecid I (the Pasha’s nominal overlord), and the wishes of the (Irish) British prime minister, Lord Palmerston. The year was 1859, the very number of this race (planning, dear boy, planning!), which, despite the canal’s double-super-tanker gauge and lack of locks, is strictly prohibited to sailors IRL. But not SOLers! 85nm in Fareast 28Rs to complete your circumnavigation of Africa!
Race #1859
INFOby brainaid.de
Fareast 28R PARTICULARS
WX Updates:
0430 / 1030 / 1630 / 2230
Ranking: SYC - ABS
RACE CLOSE: Tuesday,
November 18 at 2300 UTC.
Race starts: Nov 12th 17:00 Registration Closed
▶ Flash
GO TO RACE

Round Hong Kong TIMED Race 2025

This month’s TIMED race takes us to the hectic, bustling sea lanes of the South China Sea for a 118 nm race beginning and ending in Hong Kong rounding several of the 260 nearby islands along the way. The boat for this race is the South African built Cape 31. 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 #1964
INFOby brainaid.de
Cape 31 Particulars
WX Updates:
0430 / 1030 / 1630 / 2230
Ranking:
TRQ4 - TRCH - SUPSOL - SYC
RACE CLOSE: Saturday,
22 November at 23:00 UTC
Race starts: Nov 09th 12:00 Registration Open!
▶ Flash
GO TO RACE

Fernando de Noronha to Faroe 2025

The RWW Series concludes with a spectacular journey from Fernando de Noronha to the Faroe Islands, a legendary destination in the wild North Atlantic. Panning 4,100 nautical miles, this leg will be a true test of endurance, strategy, and sheer determination. Also the penultimate leg of the 2025 Ocean Championship, it’s your chance to prove your mettle against the sea, the wind, and yourself. We’ll be racing aboard the Ragamuffin 100, a vessel built for speed and challenge — demanding planning, precision and grit from every sailor on deck. Do you have what it takes to master the Northern Atlantic?.
PRIZE: SMPF
Race #1960
INFO by brainaid.de
Ragamuffin 100 PARTICULARS
WX Updates:
0430 / 1030 / 1630 / 2230
Ranking: RWW - OCQ4 - OCCH - SUPSOL - SYC
RACE CLOSE: Monday,
November 24 at 2300 UTC.
Race starts: Nov 03rd 11:00 Registration Closed
▶ Flash
GO TO RACE

Sinbad by Balloon 2025 - Carnarvon to Dondra


From here, our home in Bharatavarṣa is now north west of us – said Sinbad to his fellow balloonists. Perhaps we can ride the wind first further north, and then catch the winds that every year bring the rain, perhaps not. It’s 2600nm and we could be aloft awhile, so, Master el-Quarters, victuals only, no sandbags, provisioning the giant hamper. It will be not a picnic!
Race #1886
INFOby brainaid.de
SOL Balloon PARTICULARS
WX Updates:
0430 / 1030 / 1630 / 2230
Ranking: SYC - SBB
Race starts: Oct 15th 11:00 Registration Closed
▶ Flash
GO TO RACE

Go to race archive

SYC Ranking

  1. Sailonline Yacht Club Member KaSToR
  2. Sailonline Yacht Club Member CriticalHippo
  3. Sailonline Yacht Club Member WRmirekd
  4. Sailonline Yacht Club Member rafa
  5. Sailonline Yacht Club Member vida
  6. Sailonline Yacht Club Member CollegeFund
  7. Sailonline Yacht Club Member bonknhoot
  8. Sailonline Yacht Club Member BRENTGRAY
  9. Sailonline Yacht Club Member Panpyc
  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