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Board » Flag Officers » Race Calendar » Q2 2015 - EXPERIMENTAL REVERSED TIMED RACES

Hi ;)

If you are puzzled about the Reversed Timed races aappearing in Q2 , here you find the answers ! :

The idea for Timed races open 16 days each month was two folded : allow more windows and have an area ( playground ) where newbies could learn and test their skills any time.

Unfortunatly the January Timed , although open 16 days , really offered one serious window , and the rest of it was boring and useless calcs .

One respected SOLer offered the idea to reverse the Timed course at some point , in order to actually deal with very different pic as to angles .

In Q2 we are experimenting this solution , aimed to make SOLing more interesting . Only drawback is that we cannot double the number of races valid for TIMED Championship ( this year is 12 races ) and therefore the reversed course will be valid only for SYC dynamic ranking .

Will look forward to feedback , to enable us to decide if the experiment will continue in Q3 and 4 .

ciao ALL ;)

SRC
Having given this matter some thought, there is another reversible scenario that would take some technical preparation & accommodation by the SOL community to pass muster.

Brief Description:

Captured Wx Window (data)

The Aim of this new format is to provide an enhanced competitive Arena but to compress the time it would require to experience the results. Since these timed events are artificial in nature to begin with, live weather would be replaced with a 28 hour weather sample that would be "book-leafed" & repeated for 3 or more cycles.

The reason for 28 hours is so wherever the optimum moment would occur that as each cycle advanced it would move forward in real time 8 hours (48+8) so that after 3 cycles the Prime Time would have been made available globally with some equanimity.

In order for there to be smooth transitions as this cycle repeats it would require some technical legerdemain and if this can implemented by the Engine Room Dudes then this proposal could be presented for consideration as an alternative for future use.

The 28 hour real weather file would progress normally 24 + 4 & then be followed by the inverted data that is then run back to front 4 + 24 to comprise a 56 hour full cycle that after 3 repetitions would be complete in a single week (168 hours) or 2 weeks if there were 6 cycles.

The outcome would put the emphasis on sailing technique and allow for progressive adjustments as the fleet fine tunes their strategies. The eventual margins would be miniscule and hyper-competitive.

--- Last Edited by A2 at 2015-03-15 10:41:46 ---
None so blind
Attachments
Viva all.
Far from me to kill at birth an idea of/for SOL, whatever it is.

The TR has three essential aspects:
1- Luck - to find out the right time to begin the TR (10%);
2 - Concentration (20%);
3 - Skills - for taking the best advantage of the conditions offered (70%),

well, a little like everything we do in life.
We can also discuss the percentages of involvement of each of the listed factors but that’s not important here.
However, we must not forget that, with the de factum stability of 6 hrs between each WF, we turn it into deterministic what in nature is essentially random (weather performance), thus drastically lowering by large the contribution of the “Luck” factor in percentage points.
I don't think that repeating a given WF cycle it's going to improve person’s involvement in SOL TR’s.
Speaking for myself, what I’ve been lacking is availability to enjoy the best moments to make TR’s.

For me, this is the principal missing factor:
4 - Personal availability.

Using that “WF time machine” we’ll transform a TR to a several Sprint ones.
Is this what we had in mind?
Sail Fair.
I would like to see all races having at least one Wx update in them, so that weather forecasting becomes/stays part of the equation, instead of just routing (whether it is by hand or software aided).

I'm opposed to knowing what the Wx will do up to the finish, so I would say no to they wx timemachine, even if creates equal opportunity.

But sol is not just for me. We have plenty of races without a Wx update in them, and many enjoy racing them.
~ please disregard ~

--- Last Edited by sol at 2015-03-30 09:15:46 ---
I would like to address the intent of the original post in this thread relating to the back-end non championship timed race, due to the fact that I believe that comments I made in race chat may have provided some of the impetus for this implementation. The topic under discussion revolved around a fact that has been true since the inception of timed races is that the best times are concentrated in a 2 hour window regardless of the length of time that the race is open. The purpose for the second window was to combine another time with the best run for each skipper from the first phase thus making both halves relevant. I am not sure that this aspect was successfully conveyed other-wise having a dummy race achieves nothing.

There seems to be a prevailing opinion that having this race window open is user friendly for new skippers. I am not in agreement with this assumption. I believe that social interaction is the most important aspect to welcome & retain new players. Too often the timed race format is like playing solitaire. RC's daily races are the best introduction for this purpose & fleet starts the best vehicle to understand how the polar-weather dynamic functions here.
None so blind
The " reversed Timed " is NOT a dummy race ! ...It is a very normal Timed race , valid for SYC Club ranking , and carrying the interesting feature of tackling route and angles differently on the same course , as you suggested .

Besides , it is an experiment , and as such will be evaluated when preparing the next quarter calendar . In Q2 we have just added 3 races that can easily be dismissed in Q3.

SRC

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