Facebook

Login

Support Sailonline

If you haven't already - join the SAILONLINE YACHT CLUB!

Please also consider making a donation - all amounts are greatly appreciated!

Board » Technical Discussion » Do All Boats Start The Same ?

Posted by
A2


Users avatar

Posts
347
Registered at
2009-10-26 00:39:42
2015-01-07 21:16:06 - Do All Boats Start The Same ?
Since the Free Turn artifact has been 'fixed' it brings to mind another starting issue that occasionally has been discussed in chat relating to the way boats appear on screen at the Gun. In the very beginning some boats seem to get out of the gate sooner than others. So I was wondering if this is indeed the case in fact or simply a lag in the way fleet positions are reported to the client.

From careful observation & astute deductive reasoning I am in the camp that believes the former to be the case. Which begs the questions what if anything can be done to get to the front of the queue. Also does the ranking of boats prior to the start of any race indicate the sequence in which the server will execute steering instructions on their behalf ?

Granted a single jump advantage early on is rarely decisive by the end of any race but it is a definite psychological boost when reaching the 1st mark or headland down the course.
None so blind
Posted by
hmm


Users avatar

Posts
118
Registered at
2011-11-03 13:35:22
2015-01-08 20:58:49 - Re: Do All Boats Start The Same ?
The short answer is that all boats start at the same time if they have set a starting command.

The sailing engine which takes care moving of the boats has been written by Jakob and Kalle, the original founders of SOL and I can't say I know it thoroughly. This is my best explanation on what happens though.

Practically what happens is that the server calculates boat movements one boat at time and when starting there are hundreds of boats starting at the same time.

There is no particular order in what the boats are moved, it happens in the order the underlying database SOL uses happens to list them. I suppose databases tend to internally provide data in same order which depends on how it's internal data structures stores the data, it can be related to the order data has been written in the database but not necessarily always so.

When the moving happens in sailing engine there is a separate program handling the caches. Every 30 seconds it will take a snapshot of every boat's position and store it to server memory. When SOL clients connect to server for asking the fleet position this snapshot is what they get. This is to prevent the need of every client individually asking from the database the positions of all boats.

When this snapshot is taken, it can happen when the sailing engine is in the middle of moving the boats so in the image you can see some boats further than others. In my opinion this explains most of the differences you can see in boat movements just after start.

There might be more things affecting the issue (I think the sailing engine has some kind of method where it will detect high load situations and move boats less frequently) but to me the sailing engine is good enough and at least I don't know any way to always get a "front line start".

Posted by
Rod


Users avatar

Posts
392
Registered at
2010-06-24 22:30:48
2015-01-09 13:50:57 - Re: Do All Boats Start The Same ?
In the practice races, I have almost always observed that boats starting at the same time, and following the same course, (at presumably the same speed), will maintain the same order until the first rounding, (15 min or so later). This would suggest that the server maintains a list of boats, and moves the boats in the same order, at least until the list is disturbed by different orders being given by the helmsman.
If it breaks, it's not strong enough--if it doesn't, it's too heavy.
Posted by
Bimmer


Users avatar

Posts
447
Registered at
2015-02-23 15:38:27
2016-03-08 08:49:05 - Re: Do All Boats Start The Same ?
Hi Rod
In practice races it is the boats distances to the next waypoint in the actual race that is measured and can be seen on the ranking list, and not the marks we use in PR, so you have to trust your eyes here :-)

Bimmer

Please login to post a reply.

Races

Next Race: 00d 00h 00m

Current Races:

Raja Muda Selangor 2025 - Penang to Langkawi

Welcome to the third online race of the Raja Muda Selangor International offshore series – a 70nm final trip further north again up the Malacca Strait from Penang to the exotic island of Langkawi, and again in J-109s.
Race #1963
INFO by brainaid.de
J-109 PARTICULARS
WX Updates:
0430 / 1030 / 1630 / 2230
Ranking: RMS - SYC
Race starts: Nov 20th 04:00 Registration will open soon

▶ Flash
GO TO RACE

Raja Muda Selangor 2025 - Pangkor to Penang

Welcome back on board your J-109 for our second online offshore race in cooperation with the Raja Muda Selangor International organisation – an 80nm trip from Pangkor north up the Malacca Strait to Penang.
Race #1962
INFO by brainaid.de
J-109 PARTICULARS
WX Updates:
0430 / 1030 / 1630 / 2230
Ranking: RMS - SYC
Race starts: Nov 17th 04:00 Registration Open!

▶ Flash
GO TO RACE

Raja Muda Selangor 2025 - Port Klang to Pangkor

Sailonline is delighted to be able to offer online sailors an opportunity to once again compete in all three of the offshore races of the Raja Muda Selangor International race week, organised by the Royal Selangor Yacht Club in association with the RORC, and commencing with a 75nm trip from Port Klang to Pangkor. This year we will be racing this race, and the other two, which together will count towards our Sailonline Raja Muda Series (RMS), in J-109s.
Race #1961
INFO by brainaid.de
J-109 PARTICULARS
WX Updates:
0430 / 1030 / 1630 / 2230
Ranking: RMS - SYC
RACE CLOSE: Thursday,
November 20 at 2300 UTC.
Race starts: Nov 15th 04:00 Registration Open!

▶ Flash
GO TO RACE

Africa by Sea 2025 - Suez to Port Said


When Napoleon (briefly) occupied Egypt at the turn to the 19th C, he ordered his expedition’s Directeur des Ponts et Chaussées, Jacques-Marie Le Père, to evaluate the ancient, derelict, infilled course of a Ptolemaic canal connecting the Red Sea to the Nile via the Great Bitter Lake, versus a new canal to the Mediterranean directly. Neither were considered feasible – locks to climb a pauvre-surveyed 10m sea-level difference, or continuous dredging of the Nile, would both be equally financially prohibitive. Fifty years passed before the unlikeliness of Le Père’s survey finding was challenged and a French Compagnie Universelle du Canal Maritime de Suez obtained a 99-year concession from the Khedive of Egypt, Said Pasha, to construct and operate a canal from the Red Sea to the Mediterranean, much against the will of the Ottoman Sultan, Abdulmecid I (the Pasha’s nominal overlord), and the wishes of the (Irish) British prime minister, Lord Palmerston. The year was 1859, the very number of this race (planning, dear boy, planning!), which, despite the canal’s double-super-tanker gauge and lack of locks, is strictly prohibited to sailors IRL. But not SOLers! 85nm in Fareast 28Rs to complete your circumnavigation of Africa!
Race #1859
INFOby brainaid.de
Fareast 28R PARTICULARS
WX Updates:
0430 / 1030 / 1630 / 2230
Ranking: SYC - ABS
RACE CLOSE: Tuesday,
November 18 at 2300 UTC.
Race starts: Nov 12th 17:00 Registration Open!
▶ Flash
GO TO RACE

Round Hong Kong TIMED Race 2025

This month’s TIMED race takes us to the hectic, bustling sea lanes of the South China Sea for a 118 nm race beginning and ending in Hong Kong rounding several of the 260 nearby islands along the way. The boat for this race is the South African built Cape 31. This is a TIMEDrace so you may RE-REGISTER HEREto try again after finishing a run. You will have 13 days and 11 hours to test your skill and decision making after the race opens.
Race #1964
INFOby brainaid.de
Cape 31 Particulars
WX Updates:
0430 / 1030 / 1630 / 2230
Ranking:
TRQ4 - TRCH - SUPSOL - SYC
RACE CLOSE: Saturday,
22 November at 23:00 UTC
Race starts: Nov 09th 12:00 Registration Open!
▶ Flash
GO TO RACE

Fernando de Noronha to Faroe 2025

The RWW Series concludes with a spectacular journey from Fernando de Noronha to the Faroe Islands, a legendary destination in the wild North Atlantic. Panning 4,100 nautical miles, this leg will be a true test of endurance, strategy, and sheer determination. Also the penultimate leg of the 2025 Ocean Championship, it’s your chance to prove your mettle against the sea, the wind, and yourself. We’ll be racing aboard the Ragamuffin 100, a vessel built for speed and challenge — demanding planning, precision and grit from every sailor on deck. Do you have what it takes to master the Northern Atlantic?.
PRIZE: SMPF
Race #1960
INFO by brainaid.de
Ragamuffin 100 PARTICULARS
WX Updates:
0430 / 1030 / 1630 / 2230
Ranking: RWW - OCQ4 - OCCH - SUPSOL - SYC
RACE CLOSE: Monday,
November 24 at 2300 UTC.
Race starts: Nov 03rd 11:00 Registration Closed
▶ Flash
GO TO RACE

Sinbad by Balloon 2025 - Carnarvon to Dondra


From here, our home in Bharatavarṣa is now north west of us – said Sinbad to his fellow balloonists. Perhaps we can ride the wind first further north, and then catch the winds that every year bring the rain, perhaps not. It’s 2600nm and we could be aloft awhile, so, Master el-Quarters, victuals only, no sandbags, provisioning the giant hamper. It will be not a picnic!
Race #1886
INFOby brainaid.de
SOL Balloon PARTICULARS
WX Updates:
0430 / 1030 / 1630 / 2230
Ranking: SYC - SBB
Race starts: Oct 15th 11:00 Registration Closed
▶ Flash
GO TO RACE

Go to race archive

SYC Ranking

  1. Sailonline Yacht Club Member KaSToR
  2. Sailonline Yacht Club Member WRmirekd
  3. Sailonline Yacht Club Member CriticalHippo
  4. Sailonline Yacht Club Member rafa
  5. Sailonline Yacht Club Member vida
  6. Sailonline Yacht Club Member CollegeFund
  7. Sailonline Yacht Club Member BRENTGRAY
  8. Sailonline Yacht Club Member bonknhoot
  9. Sailonline Yacht Club Member Kipper1258
  10. Sailonline Yacht Club Member Sax747

View full list

Series

Mobile Client

SYC members have the benefit of access to our mobile/lightweight web client!

The mobile client