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 » Practice Racing » Pre-set practice race areas

There are times when there isn't a possibility to run a practice race in a conventional sense - i.e., races are running and there is no practice time.

At moments like these, and they are not that often, several have voiced the idea of a practice race course officially set up in the system which can then be used for a couple of hours only.

As a practical matter, it is not possible to create a practice race course without "pinning" it to a specific area - each waypoint has its own lon/lat - with map/weathersystem.

So if we chose a few areas in the world where practice-race quality winds are most likely to occur, I could ask the 'Gods to set up weathersystems tailored small to fit that zone.

The area(s) we choose can then be populated with a range of waypoints that we pick/choose as we want.

To this end, please would you all come up with a handful of places in the world where we are likely to nearly always encounter practice race quality winds!!

Thanks!!
RC...Sounds like a very good suggestion. Don´t where...Southern Ocean...lol,,,but it would good if it´s near land. Go ahead, that would be fine ! Robert
Robert
Set up a race site, near to each main race, but which is entered ONLY from the practice race site, with the boats auto-transported to the start, and returned to the main race site after the finish.
If it breaks, it's not strong enough--if it doesn't, it's too heavy.
Rod - yes, that would be doable. But what remains is the legwork needed to get a small group of practice races and their weathersystems/areas pre-set.

I am no sailor and apart from the S Oceans am not aware of parts of the sailing-globe where reasonable winds are usually available.

If someone could come up with these it would be a starting point!
*******************
I have been giving some further thought to this and the snag, really, is that a full-blown practice race set up in the style of a real SOL race will make a "blip" on the server and overtime practice races will take over.

We have to ask ourselves.. is it really appropriate for just a small group of us to potentially muck up someone else's race?

As it stands, our practising during the practice time of a race is not harming anyone.

If we were to have separate practice races that stand alone from SOL races then they should be open to all and publicly visible.... otherwise it smacks too much of cronyism.

There is a halfway solution though...a reusable practice race that has some but not all of the characteristics of a SOL race, a course in the race preview stage that is re-usable.

In other words we have a start and we have a finish line and we have waypoints. All of these are movable to accommodate variations on our racing.

What we would not have is either towback OR automatic start.. we would need to set start DCs or be online... but what we would have would be ranked finishes.

If we then wanted to use Mark Boats for waypoints/gates, they can be registered and sailed into place or we could have fixed SOL-style waypoints.

After each race I would, however, have to delete the registered boats to release them from the finish.

OR we could simply use the course/area as we do now - setting our starts and monitoring our finishes and just using the zone available.

What do you think?

Go to this url:

TEST PRACTICE
register your boat and then tell me what you think.


REGISTRATION IS NOW CLOSED!!!! 1935hrs

--- Last Edited by RainbowChaser at 2011-02-25 19:37:01 ---
it's oké, strong winds that are a little chance of direction
Perfect !!
Robert

Please login to post a reply.

Races

Next Race: 00d 00h 00m


Current Races:

The British Isles Circumnavigation 2026


The British Isles Circumnavigation is here! Inviting skippers to take on an epic 1,720nm clockwise voyage around Britain and Ireland! Starting and finishing in Cowes, the course passes some of the most iconic landmarks in offshore sailing, including Fastnet Rock, Tearaght Lighthouse, Black Rock, St. Kilda and Muckle Flugga before the long run home. Racing in our fast and versatile TP52, this Super-Buddy Championship race will reward smart routing, changing weather strategy and sustained concentration over every mile. Good luck!
Race #2052
INFO by brainaid.de
TP-52 PARTICULARS
WX Updates:
0430 / 1030 / 1630 / 2230
Ranking: SUPBUD - SYC
Race starts: Aug 09th 10:00 Registration Open!
▶ Flash
GO TO RACE

SSANZ Triple Series 2026 - Race 2

Welcome back to race two of the SSANZ Triple Series—it's time for the Lewmar 100! Our dynamic fleet of Young 88s returns for another exhilarating 65 nautical mile battle across the stunning waters off Auckland, New Zealand. Once again, our skilled Sailonline racers will test their strategic minds and endurance. With intense competition, shifting conditions, and plenty of tactical decision-making, this race promises high-energy sailing and edge-of-your-seat excitement from start to finish!
Race #2047
INFO by brainaid.de
Young 88 PARTICULARS
WX Updates:
0430 / 1030 / 1630 / 2230
Ranking: SSANZ - SUPBUD - SYC
Race starts: Aug 08th 21:15 Registration Open!
▶ Flash
GO TO RACE

Lake Vättern PYOC 2026


Back in 2013, longstanding SOLer Musigny and his friend xthyra invited us for a three race tour of beautiful Lake Vättern in the heart of southern Sweden. After many years, we return there for a quick sprint from a start in front of the village of Brandstorp, either way around Visingso island in the middle of the lake, but PORT HAND ROUND a buoy off the Granna piers on the eastern shore and back, once again avoiding Visingso as best you can. At least 20nm in trusty Scandinavian 11m One Designs; good luck!
Race #2046
INFO by brainaid.de
11m OD PARTICULARS
WX Updates:
0430 / 1030 / 1630 / 2230
Ranking: SPQ3 - SPCH - SYC
Race starts: Aug 08th 21:00 Registration Open!
▶ Flash
GO TO RACE

Easter Island to Tristan da Cunha 2026

Welcome to the second leg of our RNW series, rounding Cape Horn. This middle-most leg Round the New World, from Easter Island to Tristan da Cunha, is also part of our Ocean Championship, and as such the second race of OCQ3 2026. This race, like the previous race in the RNW series, will be sailed in our revised 'version 2' Imoca 60 Foil. Race #2050
INFO by brainaid.de
Imoca 60 Foil v2 PARTICULARS
WX Updates:
0430 / 1030 / 1630 / 2230
Ranking: OCQ3 - RNW - OCCH - SYC
Race starts: Aug 03rd 11:00 Registration Open!
▶ 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 Panpyc
  5. Sailonline Yacht Club Member rafa
  6. Sailonline Yacht Club Member cdhinman
  7. Sailonline Yacht Club Member rthinman
  8. Sailonline Yacht Club Member ms0689
  9. Sailonline Yacht Club Member BRENTGRAY
  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