Zezo forum:

Post by BooBill | 2020-03-10 | 14:12:11

I think I ran aground 6 times during the C600. That was 3 notices over 2 incidents. I even ran aground twice during my last run of the JV. In most of those cases, I had program points or waypoints set, but fortunately, I was stilling there with a hand on the tiller. Clearing myself off the rocks was aggravating, as even though I had a heading 90 degrees or more to my original path and boat speed showing in the client, there was no movement of the boat on the screen. At the time of my first grounding in the C600 I was running in the top 50. By the time I got back underway I'd dropped into the 300's.

So, my question is, how can we know exactly where our boat is with respect to obstructions? The last of my groundings I waited until the client showed me about a nm clear of La Desirade before bearing off, at which point my boat backed up a mile and visited a tiki bar.

I get that the dashboard is reporting your lat/lon in the server, but that's got to be slightly delayed as it gets relayed and it's not graphical, so not much use for real-time navigation. Also, you can't slalom through islands with 5m intervals in sightings.

You could say, well, don't cut it so close. However, in the C600 I'd say how finely you navigated around points of land was about 50% of the competitive gain or loss. Plus, at least on the client screen, I wasn't cutting it any closer than any of the other leaders.

3 Comments

Post by zezo | 2020-03-10 | 18:53:16

You can only be sure at the 5-minute update. It's visible in the dashboard, and sometimes you can also see how the boat moves around, compensating the client-server difference.

In that race I sometimes place a programmed turn an hour in advance (around some island) and observe how it moves around over time. That gives you some idea if the boat will make it when the time comes. But you still have to be online and looking. Otherwise, use waypoints.

Post by theo | 2020-03-16 | 14:13:30

Way points is the only sure way. It happened to me twice that my ship did not turn on a way point of a jibe. I was watching. The boat turned as expected, although after a few minutes when I did a refresh to see were the rest of sailors are, I found my yacht going old route and did NOT turn in first place. I can t explain it, but both times happened with 9 or 10 boys set. All available, but I do not know if that has to do anything with this. Anyway what I want to say is do not trust all the way the programmer. I did turn it after all by hand and lost abit. If that was near land I would loose big time

Post by zezo | 2020-03-16 | 14:58:44

Waypoints have two issues:

First is cosmetic. Server and client are not exactly in sync, so the client does not know if the boat has rounded the WP or not. You just have to be patient.

The other problem is worse. It's the 15-minute waypoint range. Once you get within 15 minutes of your next waypoint you are doomed. Can't touch anything or you lose your setup. That requires some planning in advance and some patience.