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Profile for outlaw



Name outlaw
Email Address n/a
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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.

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ORCV Melbourne to Hobart 2024


Welcome to the legendary "Westcoaster," a race that has tested sailors for over 50 years. Spanning 435 nautical miles, this iconic journey takes racers from Melbourne, across the formidable Bass Strait, and around Tasmania's rugged west coast to the finish line in Hobart. Organized by the Ocean Racing Club of Victoria, the Westcoaster is renowned for its challenging conditions and adventurous spirit. This year, our SOLers will tackle the course in the swift and capable First 47.7, a yacht launched by Beneteau in 2000, built for speed and endurance in long ocean races. Get ready for an exhilarating ride in one of Australia’s most celebrated yacht races!
Race #1841
INFO by brainaid.de
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Race starts: Dec 26th 23:00 Registration will open soon
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Refeno Rally 2024


Although since 1986 this 300nm course from Recife, Brazil, to Fernando Noronha Island has been run many times IRL, we have only used this route twice in SOL. This time it will be the route of the last race in the ARCH 2024 classification.
Although the winner of the general classification can already be determined, the fight for the next places on the podium should be fierce. There are several contenders and Dofour34 have them at their disposal. Since we are starting in Vida_Maldita's home waters, he will give us a 30-minute handicap. Or maybe we should give it to him? 😊
Race #1865
INFO from brainaid.de
Dufour 34 PARTICULARS
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Race starts: Dec 23rd 17:00 Registration Open!
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Tristan da Cunha TIMED Race 2024

Originally designed by NZL_Scotsman, we head for the remote outpost of Tristan da Cunha where gales and storms may come and go but the sea is everlasting. This 64nm TIMED race has been raced on several occasions before, and this time we will be doing it in Rustler 36s.
RE-REGISTER HERE to race again after finishing a run
Race #1875
INFO by brainaid.de
Rustler 36 PARTICULARS
WX Updates:
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Ranking:
TRQ4 - TRCH - SUPSOL - SYC
REGISTRATION CLOSE: Saturday, 28 December at 22:00 UTC
RACE CLOSE: Saturday, 28 December at 23:00 UTC
Race starts: Dec 15th 12:00 Registration Open!
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The Beagle in the Azores 2024


And west the Beagle went one final time to round the Cape of Good Hope on May 31 1836. Ashore, Darwin met up with the Astronomer Royal, Herschel, who just happened to be in South Africa at the same time mapping the southern skies. After sounding out his many ideas on evolution and extinction with Herschel, the Beagle now sailed north, stopping briefly in St Helena, Ascension and Brazil, and the Cape Verdes again, to reach the Azores on September 19, 1836. Fitzroy and Darwin at this stage were in a hurry to get back to Britain, but online in 2024 we will stay a little longer to explore this final remote archipelago in our virtual Tall Ship Class B Beagle, 630nm round and about the islands, minding as always in these waters not to bump into any large cetaceans!
Race #1758
INFOby brainaid.de
Tall Ship Class B PARTICULARS
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Ranking: SVF - SYC
RACE CLOSE: Friday,
December 27 at 2300 UTC.
Race starts: Dec 14th 13:00 Registration Closed
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Christmas(W) to Christmas(E) Island 2024

Two waypoints, start and finish, and between them 5827 NM of two oceans. Not much time if we want to sit at the Christmas Eve table. You will need to maintain an average speed of over 10 knots, so prepare your 90ft well and choose the best of the many possible routes. Hands up everyone who knew there were TWO Christmas Islands?! OK, maybe you have sailed this Sailonline course before... but it's time to get ready for the 2024 challenge of a reversed race, starting in the Indian Ocean, racing to the Christmas Island in the Pacific! It also marks the conclusion of our prestigious Ocean Race Championship 2024. Please have fun! Fair winds!
PRIZE: SMPF
Race #1868
INFO by brainaid.de
90ft Monohull PARTICULARS
WX Updates:
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Ranking: OCQ4 - OCCH - SUPSOL - SYC
Race starts: Dec 02nd 11:00 Registration Closed
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SYC Ranking

  1. Sailonline Yacht Club Member WRmirekd
  2. Sailonline Yacht Club Member FreyjaUSA
  3. Sailonline Yacht Club Member Vida_Maldita
  4. Sailonline Yacht Club Member CriticalHippo
  5. Sailonline Yacht Club Member rafa
  6. Sailonline Yacht Club Member Kipper1258
  7. Sailonline Yacht Club Member Satori
  8. Sailonline Yacht Club Member Sax747
  9. Sailonline Yacht Club Member BRENTGRAY
  10. Sailonline Yacht Club Member CollegeFund

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