INFO

Click the thumbnail for a brief Introduction to Practice Racing



WHO CAN SET UP PRACTICE RACES
In principle, anyone can, providing they have the passwords to the boats used as marks. The passwords are kept private to prevent folks having fun playing with the marks and not returning them to where they have been placed, at great effort, by a course designer!!

The list of SOLers who have the passwords so can design practice races are:

Bimmer
glynnwi
calmxy
GREATSKUA
RainbowChaser
sassy63
Wolff

NOTES/RULES

360 Penalty Turn: means to sail your boat in a full circle, stopping at least twice so that upon completion a full loop is shown in your updated track. The penalty must not be combined with a tack, gybe or mark rounding so that the full impact of the loop impacts performance.

Chat - all practice race chat takes place in either the main (English chatroom) or sometimes the Sail Talk Chatroom of the relevant race. This is findable by using the dropdown menu at the top of the Chat column and selecting Sail Talk.

DCs / Delayed Commands - setting these can be tricky if you are wanting to be precise, esp. for practice race starts, so using Brainaid's Toolbox DC Editor is a simple way to be accurate. The Toolbox (which has other stuff I don't know about) is findable
here

Finish: To stop you must set a TWA=0. Please do not do this until you have sailed well clear of the finish line so you do not obstruct the field for those ranking the finish.

Finishing: As you see your pink boat cross the line, please announce your arrival (word/phrase of your choosing) this helps indicate who crosses in which order.

Islands: If an island is also identified with a Mark beached on it, then even if there is a small gap between the island and the Mark, BOTH are to be rounded!

Joining in At Any Time: Practice Racing is very sociable so everyone is welcome to join in a race at any point. Matchracing from where you join the flotilla is great fun.

Marks/M: - these are references to boats that are called Practice_Mark_1 through to Practice_Mark_5 and usually abbreviated to M1, M2 etc. They are used as rounding points and often as start/finish points where islands or natural waypoints are absent or insufficient.

Mark Rounding When Marks are boatshapes, your track may cut through the boatshape but remain the correct side of the "mast" (central dot), In night-mode, the riding lights must be completely rounded. Where marks are shown as dots, your track must not touch any part of the mark on full zoom, If it does then it is up to another boat to protest before end of race. If found guilty then a 360 must be executed. This includes the Marks denoting the start and finish lines of a race.

Missing a Mark: Like in real life, if you start from the Gun in a practice race and miss a mark then you will only be eligible for a ranking if you either (1) return to the mark and round it correctly or (2) all racers agree a 360 penalty may be sailed.

Newbies: Everyone starts with a credit of three "free" races during which you may race hard but errors (mark cutting, OCS etc) won't be penalised BUT you also cannot take a podium/Top Five place or be awarded the G-SCOW. As a newbie you are invited to learn the rules and if you feel you are ready to race before your three "free races" are run, just say so at the beginning of a race!

Polar: simple explanation here

SLI Jumping: The "jumping" or crossing of small islands or headlands is not permitted in Practice Racing (although it is technically possible and thus doable in SOL races). If a boat executes a jump inadvertently, then if protested, a 360 must be executed before the next following mark or the finish, whichever comes first. If a racer announces that they are going to jump an SLI or have done so on purpose, then they will lose any podium/ranking and be listed last in the race.

Starting: Because practice racing is v v informal to start your boat you need to either set a DC (delayed command) OR be online to send the command in real time.

Stopping: Again because practice racing is an informal arrangement, to stop you boat simply Send Command of TWA 0.0.
______________________
#4786


--- Last Edited by RainbowChaser at 2019-11-19 20:03:28 ---

Hello
I'm currently running on the Weddel-Bekerley Timed Race and I
poses a question: should we pass the finish line must
from west to east?

Do, either way is OK
west -east and east- west both are good

Are you sure of that? In almost all racing that I have ever heard of, crossing the star or finish line in the wrong direction does not count as a completed part of any race.

Due to the nature of SOL it is possible to cross a finish line from "back" to "front".

Ideally, races are so designed that the natural way to cross is "front" to "back", occasionally, however, the design is such that the customary way to cross a line is difficult or non-DCable or just not optimal. In these instances the SOL system recognises a back-to-front crossing of the line.

Hope this helps.

Good discussion here on how radioyachties deal with rule breaches

http://www.mya-uk-forum.org.uk/p/forum/forum_viewtopic.php?5757.last

--- Last Edited by iomkiwi at 2013-05-31 19:23:52 ---

Jumping is not sailing, and will lead to DSQ,