Here is updated information about the Passages Course (original announcement is here). The first contest will be organized shortly after the new sims appear. If the “Tradewinds” brigantine has not been released then only the few beta vessels can obviously be raced in that class. However there is no reason that any big boat capable of a second crewperson working the sails can’t compete. These mixed contests should only be seen as practice and acclamations of victory should only be claimed against other boats of the same class. Once the Tradewind is released then formal contests leading to public broadsheets and listings in the Public Annals of the Fleet will occur.
The USS-SL Passages Course is a flexible untracked navigation contest which uses the SYC startline and three gates. The Western Gate will be found in one of three sims (Bismarck Sea, Empress Augusta Bay, or Coral Sea). The Eastern Gate will be found in one of two sims (Mare Nostrum, Mar Menor). A mid gate will be found in the Sea of Tranquility.
Each gate will consist of a pair of marks that must be passed between (direction of passage is at the discretion of the captain). Marks which are in regions that might conflict with other race courses will have the ability to be lowered to the sea bed when not in use.
Both the western and eastern gates must be passed twice during the contest. Between each passage between W and E gates ships are required to pass through the southern gate in the Sea of Tranquility. Note that passage through Solomon Sea and Kula Gulf is not allowed.
The Admiral of the Blue Fleet (based in Hollywood) will adjust the course each week based on the prior week’s results. IF the winning ship took the Eastern Gate first then the following week the western gate will be repositioned one sim north. If the winning ship took the Western Gate first then the following week the western gate will be moved one sim south. Additionally, at the discretion of the Admiral, the gate in Mare Nostrum could be move one sim west for a particular contest. Passages settings will be fixed 24 hours before the contest.
These changes in gates are designed to balance out courses so that the captains must evaluate each week which is the favored passage. Prevailing wind strength will vary between 8 and 15m/s. Prevailing wind direction will vary between 210 and 240.
Ships entering the contests shall consist of a captain and a sailmaster.
Winning Captains and crew will be recognized weekly in broadsheets and in Public Annals of the Fleet to be displayed in Starboards Yacht Club for all the world to see.
God Save the Queen.
10 responses so far ↓
1 jane fossett // Feb 1, 2008 at 10:15 am
One small issue about the Windsetter and Raceline:
When most sailboats cross the Raceline they receive a ’start time’ and the boat locks-in the Race Wind for the duration of the race.
There are currently two other Racelines and Windsetters near the Passages Course.
If race boats cross the other lines they risk unlocking the wind and they could garnish the line’s new wind.
There is an easy fix to this problem. We should add the following rule:
“A boat is disqualified if it crosses a second Raceline while the race is in progress.”
2 Jane Fossett // Feb 1, 2008 at 11:21 am
“God Save the Queen,” indeed.
It would appear that The Admiral of SYC Blue Team has aligned himself with the British Royal Navy, and his Flagship will be sporting a Union Jack on Race Day.
However, I would like to point out to Her Majesty’s Admiral that Nantucket is no longer a colony, and we have neither time nor inclination to pander to the whims of your silly Royals.
We Quakers are free Friends and equal, and, as the Admiral is well aware, for more than two centuries God in his Good Grace has chosen to bless the small island of Nantucket with the best sailors in this world– or any other.
You will certainly recall that in 1776 we frightened your Lord Admiral Howe out of the Harbor without the need to fire a single shot, and he never dared return to New England waters again.
Nonetheless, in the true Nantucket tradition of friendship and peace, we are willing to help those Brits less fortunate than we. So, after due consideration, NYC is willing to give the Admiral’s Flagship a good Nantucket Sailing Lesson on the Passages Race Course.
I’m sure the Blue Team Admiral will recognize our vessel. As always, our team will be decked out in the traditional ‘Nantucket Red.’
3 Hpathe Boucher // Feb 1, 2008 at 12:25 pm
English…Quakers…nah…!!!
Reclamo estos nuevos sims en nombre del Rey de España Don Juan Carlos de Borbon..!!
Problem solved..
4 MarkTwain White // Feb 1, 2008 at 1:25 pm
Seems the lass of Nantucket has misunderstood. The Admiral of the Blue has asked me to post this for clarification. The admiral stands for all SL sailors be they Yankees, Spaniards, Englishmen, and so forth. The fact that the admiral keeps his flagship in Hollywood is of course something Mark and Nber find gratifying but does not mean that SYC sailors are any better than NYCs or TYCs, or WYCs, or MBYCs, or any other yacht club in SL. The admiral urges us all to embrace one another as fellow seamen and seawomen even as we battle and race and cajole. But let us never take the stance that one club’s skippers are better than another. Must we remind the lass that most of us are members of multiple clubs?
5 jane fossett // Feb 1, 2008 at 3:39 pm
“The admiral urges us all to embrace one another”
Grin.
Is being a member of twenty-five sailing groups and yacht clubs enough?
Darn! I was really looking forward to recreating Admiral DeGrasse’s defeat of the British fleet off Yorktown, too…
(purely for educational purposes, you understand).
xxx!
6 jane fossett // Feb 1, 2008 at 3:41 pm
Can we still wear Nantucket Red?
and Hpathe? Grin… If you plan to sail for the glory of Don Juan Carlos de Borbon,
I certainly hope another team will sail for Portugal’s Prince Henry the Navigator.
In the 1400’s Henry’s zeal ignited two centuries of Nautical exploration that stretched the limits of the known world.
We dedicated a whole set of Big-Boat Races to the memory old Henry…
7 MarkTwain White // Feb 1, 2008 at 3:55 pm
“Can we still wear Nantucket Red?”
Get Nber to tell you about my valentine boxer shorts.
8 MarkTwain White // Feb 1, 2008 at 3:58 pm
“The admiral urges us all to embrace one another as fellow seamen and seawomen”
Now there’s a statement ripe for comment.
9 Jane Fossett // Feb 1, 2008 at 4:02 pm
[cough]
10 MarkTwain White // Feb 1, 2008 at 4:05 pm
“[cough]”
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