Kickin' butt in the transat!
- Thread starter Jackdaw
- Start date
I love these boats where the sailplan is 50% larger than the boat!My good friend Charly Fernbach is currently in 3rd place, sailing a series Pogo Mini! Even better, my buddy Michalis is his primary sponsor. I love it when a plan comes together!
druid
I have the need…. but lack the ability
Really enjoyed the VERY brief gps track shots at 5:50, 10:30. and 13:0 . it would be interesting to see more of that and less of him taking a bath and eating. I think it would be fascinating to see how the fastest boats work the route (and the other boats).
Really enjoyed the VERY brief gps track shots at 5:50, 10:30. and 13:0 . it would be interesting to see more of that and less of him taking a bath and eating. I think it would be fascinating to see how the fastest boats work the route (and the other boats).
;-)I have the need…. but lack the ability
Really enjoyed the VERY brief gps track shots at 5:50, 10:30. and 13:0 . it would be interesting to see more of that and less of him taking a bath and eating. I think it would be fascinating to see how the fastest boats work the route (and the other boats).
From experience I can tell you that the moment that would make the BEST video are the moments you are least likely to be able to get to the camera! Even double-handed it's rare that I'll risk that. Solo, no way. Unless you just happen to have it on! It why the fully crewed VOR boats actually have a dedicated camera-man, who is not allowed to sail unless in an emergency.
The strategy and tactics of picking the fasted route is what wins races like this. The skippers use multi-day wind forecast (GRIB) models and computer programs call 'weather routers' combine that wind model with the boats polars to find the fastest route, optimizing wind angle and speed in a given area. Of course it's only as good as the model you choose. It's kind of like playing a chess game in advance, with a hint of what the other guy might do. Here's ours calculating possible routes across Lake Superior.
Once it's done the route is rarely the rhumb-line on longer races. This is even more true on boats that can plane, and take huge advantage of the wind going aft of the beam. You can see here how the routing suggests that we beat well north before reaching off hard for the tip of the Keeweenaw.
Ha ha. ya… I fully understand that. all through the 70s I was heavily involved in big whitewater kayaking, but there are very very few photos of us doing that. yet there are lots of photos of the more mundane water between drops, the lunch breaks, loading and unloading the gear etc.
No… actually what I was referring to was the computer generated birds eye view shots with all the boats in the video you shared. I don't know where this comes from, but it was very cool to watch the interaction of the boats on course. I don't recall it having any wind indicators on that particular screen, but that would really be educational to be able watch the different boats interactions knowing what the wind was doing around them also.
thanks again for sharing,
Russ
Ah. The tracking system is run by Yellowbrick. They issue a sat tracker that is mounted to each boat. Their software reads the boats location every few minutes, and creates that view. While it is done in real time, most races make them run a delay (like a hour or so) so nobody can get sneaky and have someone onshore watching update with the moves of other boats, and call them on a set phone with tips. That's illegal and bad form anyway, but this makes it less valuable.Ha ha. ya… I fully understand that. all through the 70s I was heavily involved in big whitewater kayaking, but there are very very few photos of us doing that. yet there are lots of photos of the more mundane water between drops, the lunch breaks, loading and unloading the gear etc.
No… actually what I was referring to was the computer generated birds eye view shots with all the boats in the video you shared. I don't know where this comes from, but it was very cool to watch the interaction of the boats on course. I don't recall it having any wind indicators on that particular screen, but that would really be educational to be able watch the different boats interactions knowing what the wind was doing around them also.
thanks again for sharing,
Russ
In that video it does not show, but you can have Yellowbrick show current weather that the boats are in. Fun stuff. Oh, you can also watch old races.
Yup. that's what I was hoping. understandable on the delay for sure but still educational for future races or just sailing in general. are those Yellowbrick available somewhere to view by the general public like myself?
For sure. The YB site has a list of recently competed races. The viewer is typically linked from the race site. Note you have to have FLASH installed for it to work, which rules out most mobile devices unless your download the app.
https://www.ybtracking.com/
The one-hour delay matters little in practice, as all boats on the screen are shown in relative position. It only can be a bother at the end!
Watching races were there is a big strategic call to make is fun:
Chi-Mac: rhumb line or Michigan coast?
Transpac: Over or under the High?
Fastnet: Over or under the exclusion zone at the Scilly Islands?
Good times.
Oh they would go back for sure. He's the only person on the boat that cooks.Yeah. The dedicated camera person being the first rail meat to go over and likely the subject of "do we need to go back" discussion
http://www.sailingworld.com/racing/vor-media-crewmembers-qa
I did find some links to prior completed tracks but I couldn't seem to make them replay.
I'll have to play with it when I have more time. looking forward to seeing that.
Thanks Jackdaw