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Board » General Discussion » Length of Finish Lines

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my 2 cents:

1) lenght of the finish line DO affect tactical decision if it is placed with no, or little, bias with respect to the course/wind. This is difficult to enforce automatically on the server side (it is also difficult IRL given the curses that we hear directed to the Race Committee)

2) long races demands for a short line as probably boats will reach the finish well separated from each other. On the other hand short races could benefit from a wider line.

We can totally avoid the effect of line positioning and lenght by adding the additional waypointclose to the finish spot, so that finish line technically loose all its importance and stick to a fixed width (1nm?) for all races.

and finally: no changes from the NOR for races that are not sailed in parallel with the real ones. Totally agree with Africa on that.

--- Last Edited by ita10267 at 2011-07-19 13:26:52 ---
Well I am quite sure RC would have appreciated commentsd re the finish line for SJORA2 with mnore than 24hrs to the start...

Perhaps ALL SOLers can participate in ensuring the course is setup as well as possible ?? A quick email or something with a consice suggested modification...

I have done this myself once or twice, but also working on client and other SOl things I cant do so for every race...

Also, ATM the NOR is just a guidline, nicely provided by brainaid to add a little 'realism', although I do agree it should form an official part of the race notification.
IF the NOR is used as an official document, that would also prevent rounding issues like we have recently had (likely anyway) - as it lists the side to round and leave the mark from...

Considering it is a single person currently setting up ALL the races, not to mention liasing with potential IRL clubs for SOL to buddy with, potentially bringing in many new members, and many many other things to help SOL stay alive and well, I rather think a pretty good job is being done!

So consider making helpful suggestions while something can actually be changed on the course, when you notice something than can be improved - heck even login as 'sol' when a race first appears and help to check it out before it even is open for registration...

Sometimes it is just a mistake in entering the course details, other times try to remember: often the course designer has no IRL experience so line setting etc is a new 'science' to them - which RC (also with little or no IRL experience) IS trying to fix as she can - but with such a hectic SOL schedule things slip through the cracks...
I help develop the client interface for the best online ocean racing sim there is... __/)/)_/)__
did I say something wrong?
Glad to see everyone is having fun!

IRL lines are for counting boats. Here they *can* factor into the decision making process. 95% of the time we all race to the same 0.1nm of pin end, so line length is a bit of a red herring? The rare middle-of-a-long-line finishes are about the only ones that take any thought!

I'd like to be able to hit a line on twa after a minimum of one DC gybe inside the 6h update, and I should be able to do it without using a router. I can an argument against small lines, but long ones? If a mark is on land pretend the NOR is using range marks.

We're way off the original topic, but guidelines on finish lines would sure be a good thing to develop properly. Start with Inco's draft, flesh out the conditions presented here and RC will have something she can use.

-------

I like the way PaulR thinks... my contributions are "See you later ,alligator, it's a race to the equator" and "Tomorrow never dies" to the IDL.
did I say something wrong?
Sorry it was not aimed at 1 in particular (and not really you ita)

i was just pointing out that saying the line is a bit off or could use a mod isn't so useful with less than 24hrs to the start...
And i got the sense from this and other threads that people need to be reminded of what an awesome job RainbowChaser is doing - especially with no IRL yacht racing experience ;-)

Edit: While I agree entirely about the length of line with you 76T, i guess I am thinking in terms of rather have the wx decide which end of the line we go for than a chunk of land...


--- Last Edited by Aaron Gage at 2011-07-19 16:22:58 ---
I help develop the client interface for the best online ocean racing sim there is... __/)/)_/)__

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