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 » Technical Support » * * * Vic-Maui Malfunction Alert * * *

Passing the Cape Flattery Waypoint to the North when "Rounded" causes the Boat Ranking to place you at the bottom of the list with a DTG of 2704.1 nm in a race that is 2311.4 nm long.
None so blind
This is a small problem with the way SOL calculates the distance to go:

You need to look at the half angle line from the next waypoint to pass. SOL searches for a great circle passing this line orthogonally and going through the position of your boat. In this case the great circle passes the waypoint Nakalele at some distance, so you get a longer distance to the waypoint and a longer distance from there to the finish.

See attached sketch for details.

The above algorithm is necessary so the DTG function is continuous and there are no jumps in the ranking during passing of a waypoint.

The real bug is in the overall calculation of DTG, the above algorithm is only applied to the next waypoint to pass, if there are more waypoints the distance of the great circle going through these waypoints is used in the calculation. This causes the jump in DTG after passing Cape Flattery.

As the ranking issue will sort itself out once the boats are about 400nm offshore, I'd consider this a minor problem, rankings will be fine for the remaining 2000nm of the race.

_/)_/)_/)
The sea is lovely, dark, and deep, But I have promises to keep, And miles to sail before I sleep, And miles to sail before I sleep.
Attachments
Super explanation... even my little grey cells comprehend!!

Thank you :-)
Thanks for the technical details of the situation. I had not encountered this sort of behavior in any previous races.

P.S,

Thanks for the graphic & expanded explanation,

Standing down from * Alert * status :)

--- Last Edited by Aethereal at 2010-06-26 12:19:06 ---
None so blind
The half angle line is derived as follows:

Take the line (I think it's the loxodrome) from the previous waypoint (or start point) to the waypoint in question and the line from the waypoint in question to the next waypoint (or finish). These two lines of the race track define two angles, a greater "outside" angle and a smaller "inside" angle. The "outside" angle is on that side where the waypoints needs to be passed. The line cuting this angle in two halfs is the "half angle line" I was referring to.

When your boat passes this line, the server will mark the waypoint as passed (if passed in the correct direction, of course).
_/)_/)_/)
The sea is lovely, dark, and deep, But I have promises to keep, And miles to sail before I sleep, And miles to sail before I sleep.
This "small" problem creates a huge mistake in the case of the race "Ron Cazar". Please find a way to solve the problem!
nacrr
Thanks to Eddie's technical description & some subsequent discussions with 76T an idea occurred to me on how to improve the DTG measurement without radically altering the method by which it is derived.

I post it here so that my understanding of how things actually work can be evaluated.

As it stands now the "Bearing to Mark" splits the difference (Half-Angle) between the incoming Rhumbline and its exit. Crossing this imaginary line is where a rounding is registered and the closest approach to this same imaginary line is how the DTG measurement is calculated.

Now if this "Bearing to Mark" was rotated forward in favor of the exiting Rhumbline until it was perpendicular to it, then the closest approach measurement would more closely resemble the actual course distance.

My suggestion is to give the Bearing to Mark a forward bias.
None so blind

Please login to post a reply.

Races

Next Race: 00d 00h 00m


Current Races:

Tall Ships 2026 - Stavanger to Aalborg


Welcome to the fourth of four virtual Tall Ships Races in European waters which are concurrently being organized in-real-life by Sail Training International . This fourth race is from Stavanger in Norway into the Skaggerak to a finish off Denmark’s Aalborg and perhaps an Aquavit to toast the adventure afterwards – a final circa 250nm in Sailonline’s classic Clipper 240.
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 #1995
INFO by brainaid.de
Clipper 240 PARTICULARS
WX Updates:
0430 / 1030 / 1630 / 2230
Ranking: TSI - SUPBUD - SYC
Race starts: Jul 25th 16:00 Registration Open!
▶ Flash
GO TO RACE

Chinook Salmon - Canada to Andreanovs


A year after spawning in the upper reaches of the rivers of British Columbia, Chinook Salmon develop the age-old urge, so familiar to SOLers, to go to sea, heading for different parts of the northern Pacific Ocean. This race catches up with a particular school with an instinctive memory for the Andreanov Islands far west on the Aleutian Islands chain, as they depart the Salian Sea between Vancouver Island and the San Juans. It’s 2200nm and we’re taking the 60ft Trimaran, in the hope we can keep up!
Race #2048
INFOby brainaid.de
60ft Trimaran PARTICULARS
WX Updates:
0430 / 1030 / 1630 / 2230
Ranking: MIG - SYC
Race starts: Jul 21st 11:00 Registration Open!
▶ Flash
GO TO RACE

Juventud TIMED Race 2026

Welcome to Isla de la Juventud (Isle of Youth), Cuba’s second largest island after mainland Cuba. Known as a haven for pirates, the island was the inspiration for novels “Treasure Island” and “Peter Pan”. The circa 120nm course runs clockwise around the island.
This is a TIMEDrace so you may RE-REGISTER HEREto try again after finishing a run. You will have two weeks to test your skill and decision making after the race opens.
Race #2049
INFOby brainaid.de
The boat for this race is the sporty Mini 6.5p Foil PARTICULARS
WX Updates:
0430 / 1030 / 1630 / 2230
Ranking:
TRQ3 - TRCH - SYC
RACE CLOSE: Saturday,
1 August at 23:00 UTC
Race starts: Jul 19th 12:00 Registration Open!
▶ Flash
GO TO RACE

Alaska to Easter Island 2026

Welcome to yet another all-new series. The initial leg of the RNW (Round the New World), Alaska to Easter Island, also part of our Ocean Championship. The first race of OCQ3 2026. This race will be sailed in our revised 'version 2' Imoca 60 Foil. Race #2042
INFO by brainaid.de
Imoca 60 Foil v2 PARTICULARS
WX Updates:
0430 / 1030 / 1630 / 2230
Ranking: OCQ3 - RNW - OCCH - SYC
Race starts: Jul 06th 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 WRmirekd
  3. Sailonline Yacht Club Member CriticalHippo
  4. Sailonline Yacht Club Member Panpyc
  5. Sailonline Yacht Club Member cdhinman
  6. Sailonline Yacht Club Member bonknhoot
  7. Sailonline Yacht Club Member rafa
  8. Sailonline Yacht Club Member ms0689
  9. Sailonline Yacht Club Member sassy63
  10. Sailonline Yacht Club Member ita10267

View full list

Series

Mobile Client

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

The mobile client