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Board » Flag Officers » Rules and Decisions » SOL RULES OF RACING

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Dear Huib,

The number of UMPIRE member has to be odd (experience oblige).
My suggestion for this subject follows.
One member should be from the SRC and permanent.
The second one, should be nominated for every year campaign.
The third member can be different and invited for a particular race.
Without this arrangement, the UMPIRE decisions won't be consistent and make jurisprudence.

Big Hug!
Sail Fair.
But you still have to some sort of symbol and a name for an observer to be aware that a boat is being controlled by a boat-sitter. This symbol should be applied automatically by the program, not by the boat owner or by the sitter.

--- Last Edited by Rod at 2015-01-13 16:52:24 ---
If it breaks, it's not strong enough--if it doesn't, it's too heavy.
João, I understand that the number of DCs is not the perfect way to measure the "amount of boatsitting". But it's not doable to measure it in distance (or better, in my opinion) time. I actually think the the number of DCs is one of the best measures for the amount of boatsitting. That 2nm in you 20nm race might was the most intensive part of the race, where you win or lose the race, the other 18nm was peanuts.

Rod, implementing your suggestion requires a lot of work. I'm not sure it's even possible. Why would the rest of the world need to know the boat "is controlled" by a boatsitter? (What is "being controlled", only the moment that the boatsitter is online and setting DCs, or the whole duration that the DCs are executing?
Obviously until the boat owner resumes command--(i.e. Issues an "Order")
As to the time and work needed to implement such a system, I would compare it with the effort being devoted to the scoring in the Championships.
If the "Umpires" are to be able to examine and make judgments about boat-sitting and Team boats, the basic information must obviously have been already collected.
How is anyone to protest if no information exists?

--- Last Edited by Rod at 2015-01-13 18:38:24 ---
If it breaks, it's not strong enough--if it doesn't, it's too heavy.
The following fictional story doesn’t tell everything and it’s not meant to reach or orientate conclusions. Also, any coincidence of characters may one day be reality.

Five SOL friends gather for dinner.
Piero, Jan, Huib, Rod and João. Meanwhile, three distinguished SOL members were nominated for the SOL UMPIRE, Piero (SRC), Huib (annual member) and Rod, invited to the test race of the new Race Rules to take place after dinner.
A copious diner went, comes the coffee, a Jamaica blend, and a good 30 years Macallan Sherry Oak.
Huib shows his brand new self-built laptop. A real bomb: 10K Oled monitor (you can go down to the atomic level of the sub pixel), 4 chips DARPA 1 Thz, 5G communications and the list of specifications goes on, making envy to the owners of the Tianhe-2 SuperC.
Nobody wins the bets for the cost of the laptop.
Before the start of the race, everyone is eager to experiment the Huib’s machine, making TB uploads of DC's for their boats. The horn blows and, immediately, the phones of Piero, Huib and Rod start receiving tons of rules breaking alarms for the boats of Piero, Jan, Huib, Rod and João.

After the race (won by Piero) the UMPIRE members decide to apply a penalty of 1 hr to each skipper that were helped by Huib (WINSTON_4, bonknhoot, Rod and psail) and also, a 1hr penalty per ship to the one who helped the other four, Huib (kroppyer), i.e. 4 hrs, plus 1 hr for their own boat as an extra punitive action.

“Maledizione”, says Piero, “nobody helped me, and …. I penalize myself with 1h!”.
“That is nothing”, replies Huib, “I like to help everyone, that’s my spirit, I just borrowed my equipment, and I’m taking 5 hrs!!!”.

They end this episode laughing and enjoying the best company they can have, for sure.
Sail Fair.
When using brainaid's DC editor, I believe it's his server that sets the DCs. So brainaid should get huge amounts of penalties while he's not even racing.

No, it's of course the people, not the machines. It's up to the umpire to judge if the story (of using another soler's computer) it believable.

Rod, ok, so you have no problems with the rules itself? You're just worried that some of them can't be fully enforced? I don't think that problem is easily fixed, but it shouldn't keep us from making rules.
No. "I" have no problem with rules for SOL. My 'problem' is that the basic rule--"One SOLer, one boat" is in direct conflict with the rule which allows 'baby'-sitting a second boat, or with a group of SOLers, dispersed around the world, sailing a group of boats with the boats under control by one SOLer while the others sleep, work, get drunk, attend Great Aunt Persephone's funeral, etc., etc., while not admitting to the existence of a "Team" boat.
This may be considered 'nit-picking', but rules that are unenforceable are a waste of the words used to write them.
Unless there is some method of showing which boat is under double (or multiple) control, why bother with the Rule?

--- Last Edited by Rod at 2015-01-14 15:27:42 ---

--- Last Edited by Rod at 2015-01-14 15:30:05 ---
If it breaks, it's not strong enough--if it doesn't, it's too heavy.
OMG !!!! ;)

Antonio !! your “story” is ….FANTASTIC !!!! ….I will join if you change the Cherry into single malt Bruichladdich from Isaly !!!!!....LOLOLOLOLOL.

Now …my friends…let me try to bring your feet down to ground ;)

What you somehow missed is the philosophy of the message ( that , I remind you , comes from Corporate , and is issued via SRC ) . The message is :

Hi Solers ! ….as we all know there is a number of issues that at present cannot (yet) be enforced by server . whilst we work to aim to enforceability , would you please , as you are all Gentlemen and Yachtsmen , adhere to the following conduct ? :

Can you please make sure that you do not abuse usage of boatsitting when racing in SOL ? can we say that if you are unable to be at your helm for at least 75% of a race time you better stay ashore ? Would you accept that dragging somebody’ else’s boat behind yours for two weeks is not the spirit of the game ?

Also …..as Team boats has been an issue so far , could you please adhere to the set procedures if you like teaming up ?

Also ….. would you please avoid using SLI jumping as solution for better finish in a race ?

Also ….. can we remind you that you cannot own and control more than one boat in any race ?

What we are saying to you is four things :

1) We will work hard in the next 2000 years to find coding possibilities that satisfy enforceability as well as all the suggestions that have gathered.

2) We expect you to adhere to the set rules even if not yet enforceable

3) If we find some potentially gross breach , ( like one boat dragging another one whilst the second boat skipper is on vacation) we will intervene . If we find that someone consistently intentionally uses SLI jumping because he knows “IT WAS” permitted ..we will intervene. If Teamboats procedures are not observed we will intervene.

4) If anyone has a good idea on how to penalize boats that consistently rank as DNC because not SYC members , please step forward ;)

Hope you like my much simpler story too ! ;)

Ciaoooooooooooooo ALL

Piero
;)
Apologies ...the comment above is from me ( WIN ) erroneously logged as sol ...;)
Rod,
"rules that are unenforceable are a waste of the words used to write them"
I'm going to stick to the rules, enforceable or not. I hope many with me. Hence, I would not say they are a waste of words.


WIN,
Fully agree with everything you said, but I'm a little confused about the SLI jumping thing.. the document says "SLI jumping is undertaken at a competitor’s risk". I read that as "It's allowed, until prevented by the server".
If the intention was to prohibit intentional SLI jumping, I think the rule needs rephrasing..

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