What do you use?

[Praxinoscope]

We are looking at our cruiser race starting systems and wonder what other clubs have adopted, we are a fairly small club and have a racing fleet at maximum about 12 - 15 boats.
We have the option of a land based race control but do occasionally adopt starting on the water.
For water based starts we usually rely upon a sound signal only, for land based starts we have obviously used flags, ( but this does require exoerienced OOD, not always available) but have also experimented with lights, our cannon which worked for years using 12 bore blanks has been outlawed so sound signal is now a horn usually amplified by transmitting over VHF, (something I don’t think ideal it can disadvantage those that only have fixed VHF below or may be having VHF problems, and therefore can’t be guaranteed to hear the signa).
So what how do other smaller clubs engineer their sight and sound race signals?

 

[michael_w]

My winter club, Grafham Water SC use a very good system. It's numbered boards which are changed every minute with an accompanying sound signal. System goes like this:
One minute before the start sequence multiple hoots and an orange flag goes up.
One minute later 0 board and a sound signal.
And so on. My start is the second class on the 5 minute signal, with 5 on the board.

Seems complicated, but you can always see the number, unlike flags, and only have to estimate a minute if your stopwatch packs up. Normally there are 4 classes.

 

[flaming]

I'm not involved in any RC duties, but I've done a lot of starts with a lot of different race committees.
From a competitor point of view, and especially when the racing is "less than totally serious" then by far and away the most important thing is that the comms are clear and consistent. This is even more important when it's a bit breezy as everyone's boat gets noisy.

I'd be a bit uncomfortable with an RC using no flags or other signals when afloat. And honestly if you're not using flags then you absolutely HAVE to use the VHF. Otherwise, how are you expecting the competitors to know if that hoot was the 5 minute or the 4 minute and they missed the 5?
If flags are tricky on board, maybe try holding up coloured boards.

In your situation I would definitely use the VHF. Start by broadcasting where you are heading for. Then even if it is clear in the SIs broadcast the expected start time. If you are then reading a course do that, making sure that you define clearly what the start line is. A good guide to if you're getting it right is that if you're getting boats sail close and ask "is that the pin end?" or "was that the 5 minutes?" then you haven't got it right....

And then give very clear countdowns to the sound signals. For example, best practice around us has become an announcement about a minute before the Warning signal.

"All boats in the (name of regatta) this is the race committee. Stand by for the warning for the IRC class"
"30 seconds"
"20 seconds"
"10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1,"
"HOOT".

Then repeat for the prep signal, the 1 minutes signal and the start. The idea here is to give every boat the best chance of knowing when the start is. The RC should not be trying to catch anyone out, they should just be trying to almost spoon feed any information they can to give everyone the best possible chance of knowing what's going on.
Just make sure you put a sentence in the SIs about radio failure not being a reason to request redress... Otherwise you run the risk of races getting thrown out because you were over spoken.

 

[jwilson]

Long ago have known shotguns with birdshot used: though not pointed at anyone!

Visual signals are the "gold standard" as a 200 yard long start line could have half a second sound delay between both ends of the line. Same reason many naval shore stations dropped a ball at noon to let ships check their chronometers. Some also fired a cannon but the dropped ball or the smoke from the shot visual was the accurate one.

 

[Praxinoscope]

jwilson, it was not unknown in past days for us to use a 12 bore for the sound signal, but we had to abandon this and the use of our 4 chamber 12 bore cannon.
We usually now use a horn for the sound signal.

 

[doug748]

As above, I have seen the Jester Challenge started with a 12 bore; cartridge filled with flour and feathers or similar.

Probably not politically correct, I do hope it continues.

 

[flaming]

jwilson, it was not unknown in past days for us to use a 12 bore for the sound signal, but we had to abandon this and the use of our 4 chamber 12 bore cannon.
We usually now use a horn for the sound signal.

I can't find the video, but a couple of years ago the Yarmouth race committee actually shot the owner of one of the Cape 31s with a blank as he started at the boat end.

I think I'll take an air horn....

 

[michael_w]

Unless you've got a pump action shotgun, or two guns, the sound signals for a general recall are a bit slow.

 

[harvey38]

As a non-racer, given the accuracy of gps, can you not simply use a clock and broadcast it over a dedicated VHF channel?

The starting gate opens at..........?


Might get some disorganised buggers a bit more well, organised.

 

[tr11olar1v6]

Smaller sailing clubs use a variety of starting systems for their cruiser races. Some common options include flags, lights, horns, visual signals, and digital starting systems. The choice of system will depend on factors such as visibility, audibility, ease of use, and accessibility.

 

[Praxinoscope]

As a non-racer, given the accuracy of gps, can you not simply use a clock and broadcast it over a dedicated VHF channel?

The starting gate opens at..........?


Might get some disorganised buggers a bit more well, organised.

I have constantly fought against relying upon too much VHF for the starting signals, there are too many ‘ifs’, on some boats the VHF is not really audible by the helmsman, (one of our fleet is now fitting a cockpit speaker to overcome this), a dodgy aerial connection (not unknown) can mean a missed signal, the chosen VHF channel should theoretically be clear of other radio traffic, but it’s not guaranteed.
I have no problem with VHF being used used but it should not be the only signal, there should always be an unambiguous visual signal, not so easy now most of us have been banned from using our starting cannons which provided a lovely cloud of smoke. Lights are my preferred option, but can be difficult to distinguish if the sun shines on them, flags work provided. there is a fully experienced bridge crew, but often with smaller clubs its often a case of roping in a ‘volunteer’ from the bar so the simpler the starting procedure the better.
If only the various horns available were as reliable as our old 12 bore cannon, but salt water and electrics just don’t mix, they are fine at the start of the season but towards the end failure seem to happen
We are obviously not the only club with a relatively small racing fleet which is why I thought it would be interesting to hear what other small clubs use for their starts.

 

[Chiara’s slave]

I can't find the video, but a couple of years ago the Yarmouth race committee actually shot the owner of one of the Cape 31s with a blank as he started at the boat end.

I think I'll take an air horn....

The race committee is no longer allowed the gun.

RSYC are sticklers for the full start sequence, by flag and sound signal, ashore and afloat, they have a race cabin on the waterfront, as well as ‘Countdown’ the boat. They broadcast the sound on VHF, have taken to giving the course out on whatsapp as well as VHF and course boards. That part works very well. The course setting has had some ‘interesting’ anomalies in recent years. The PRO and I are no longer on cordial terms. They also use radio controlled clocks, and in fact you can just start on the time scheduled in the programme and be 99.9% certain of being right on time. If you can stick to that, it solves a lot of problems if there are other communication difficulties.