“Clear Start”, but the Reality is Often Different

[Photo courtesy of Junichi Hirai – Bulkhead Magazine]

Can technology solve problems?

We have all experienced the frustration of hours spent on the water. Often numerous general recalls, Uniform, Zulu and Black Flags are the norm, when it is difficult or impossible to control fleet.

[Note: the Black flag was allowed by the Class Rules from 2021: “Black Flag can be used in fleets with more than 45 boats only and after the 2^nd general recall.”]

In that case, the discouragement grows and we ask ourselves why we still like to do sailboat racing… instead of gardening.

The day is ruined, if we are among the boats called OCS, or UFD, ZFD or BFD. In some cases, there is also the possible material error of the Race Committee which, with so many boats on the starting line, could confuse a sail (or bow) number for another.

Big and competitive fleets

Problems exist in this case, usually at international events. The first solution is … splitting the fleet!

You can read this article, written some years ago, but still valid, after the recent experiences of the European 2023 and the Worlds 2024.

Race Committees, skill and experience

This is a difficult point to solve, because often the RCs are appointed by each Sailing Federations or by the organizers. However, good and competent SCIRA Representatives can help the Race Committees a lot.

Big Bow numbers that can be read from afar are also essential. The size of the RC vessel must also be adequate (it cannot be too small or low on the water). Length and positioning of the line (with the calculation of the correct multiplier coefficient: 1.2 – 1.5) are also important.

Long Starting Line

To understand how difficult it is to control a huge and competitive fleet with a long starting line, I invite you to read this article.

The problem is more complex if the wind is shithy (with wide and oscillating wind shifts), so much so that it is almost impossible to set a starting line square (or almost square) to the wind. Another case is when one side of the course is strategically/geographically favored, so that the whole fleet assembles and pushes on one end of the line.

Technological help

The Race Committee could be greatly helped by simply using two video cameras: one looking from the RC vessel toward the pin end boat; the second looking from the pin end boat toward the RC vessel. I saw this system at the 2005 Snipe Worlds in Gamagori, Japan.

At the 2024 Junior Worlds the RC used this system effectively, rechecking the sail numbers originally called immediately after the start from the two different perspectives.

However, this system may not find boats hidden behind others.

The new technology

According to C.5.1 (Portable equipment) the only electronic devices allowed are: electronic timing devices and multi function electronic compasses with steering and time function only.

Watches such as Garmin or Suunto (with GPS functions) are not allowed.

On some Classes (sportboats like J70, Melges 24 or International Classes like the Star) electronic devices like Velocitek, Vakaros, Sailmon, Novasail etc. are popular and allowed by their class rules. These tools typically include a countdown timer, a GPS sensor that calculates the distance and time to the line (and the “time to kill” for starting at full speed), as well as other tactical functions. Until now, it was necessary to ping both ends of the starting line.

Recently Vakaros is following a very aggressive marketing path, to sell a new product capable of:

• OCS detection: competitors are notified after the start if they are over or not (on their device screen).

• It is no longer necessary to “ping the start”. There are sensors on both ends of the line and each device (on each boat) receives the live position.

• The countdown is also automatically synchronized with the starting signals from the RC.

The advantages of this system are described by my friend Francesca Frazza in this article.

For a major event with many boats, having a device that only provides the indication if the boat is OCS or if the boat is below the line (green light), without providing the additional information of distance from the line and “time to kill”, would certainly be a solution to the problems highlighted above. Also, it could probably comply with the current Snipe Class Rules (only countdown, compass and warning if you are OCS or not).

My doubts are given by the fact that, so far, these devices are still extremely expensive. They were born from a business model where the customer were the boat owners, willing to spend money on these expensive instruments, to have an advantage over their opponents, being able to have more information, and to start “on time and at full speed”.

Now, with this evolution, the customers should no longer be the boat owners (who want to win), but the regatta organizers and the Race Committees (who should guarantee fair races).

This technology to assist race management is actually still oriented towards the boat owner. And for this reason it is still not very attractive. For now the only manufacturer has no competitors and the costs are still high.

The questions are: who buys these devices for a regatta? Can they be rented for an event? Who rents them? And the assistance? Is the (high) cost included in the entry fees (which are already expensive)?

Personally, I am not against this interesting technologies, but I still have some doubts.

And you, what do you think?

Please, leave your comments or write to [email protected]

---

Note: The “Exchange of Views and Reading” section of this website hosts the views of the Snipe Sailors.

This article represents a personal opinion, which may not coincide with the official opinion or view of the Class or other sailors. We deem it useful to discuss (naturally avoiding offensive content) various topics relating to our Class, to allow for an open and democratic discussion, as has always been the case on SnipeToday for more than a decade.

Dear readers, if you want to reply to this article, agreeing, or disagreeing, or proposing different solutions, I will be happy to host you in this section of the site (email to: [email protected])