SLSAILING.COM – The Portal Magazine for SL Sailing.

(Note: This article was lost from the site three months ago,
but, mirabile dictu, some great sailors helped extract it from the background thermal radiation.
I’ll post it here for a week, then retire it to the archives where people will be able to find it listed in proper temporal sequence.)

Remember the Handicap Hotlaps project ? I talked about it here four weeks ago. Interested sailors were invited to sail a simple, standard course (NYC B1A) under constant conditions and then log all their solo laptimes on the Trudeau Handicaps Hotlaps thread. The goal is to use the accumulated results from many skippers sailing multiple boats to make an objective, practical handicapping system that weights raceboats based on their in-water performance. Such a PHRF-SL system might allow different boats to race against each other fairly.

With handicapping, a good, caffeinated skipper at the helm of a ‘slow boat’ could legitimately triumph over a competitor in a faster-scripted vessel who’s drinking chardonnay and talking on a cellphone. That’s fair, right? People have legitimately complained about this for as long as I have been sailing SL, and the issue remains a problem in competitions such as the NYC Big-Boat Races, the upcoming SYC Passages Races, and the Sunday SYC Regatta mixed-fleet races.

Over the past month more than a dozen sailors have logged nearly 120 lap times for the project! Woots to: M1sha Dallin, Bea Woodget, RnSdriver Lane, Oliphant Ming, Taku Raymaker, joepie Korobase, Jane Fossett, Manul Rotaru, Hpathe Boucher, Liv Leigh, Rabog Rabeni, Gemma Vuckovic, Vin Mariani, and Harmony Bloch!

Here is the summary for fifteen different boats so far (the full table is here). For each boat, the table on the right lists the average net lap time (Finish time minus Start time) and the standard deviation. The final column calculates a relative performance ‘weight’ to make boat comparisons easy, using the Trucordia Yawl as the reference boat (with a ‘weight’ of “1.00?).

A quick look at the table shows that the Defender II, Friendship Sloop, and JaqCat are all an equal match for the Yawl on the B1A test course. The Sea Sharp, Ketch, Trudeau 32, and BlueWater Schooner are all slower, consistent with Jacqueline Trudeau’s scripting for those boats. Confirming most sailors’ reports, the Larinda Schooner is more than 10% faster than the Yawl, and it’s lap time is roughly equivalent to the Tetra 35 v1.2‘s performance. Perhaps no surprise, an ACA32 is even faster than that, rounding the course nearly 30% ahead of a Yawl.

Although the ACC boat does not use the windsetter, Manul Rotaru deserves applause for adjusting his ACC’s boatwind to NYC Hotlaps settings and completing several runs on B1A. His lap times show that the ACC is remarkably faster than either the ACA32 or Larinda, and it’s more than 80% faster than a Yawl. The fastest boat so far in the Handicap Hotlaps is the TruCor Beach Cat. It came in with scores nearly twice as fast as a Yawl.

The results are intriguing so far, but the Handicaps project will get much more interesting as more boats are added to the list, and as more skippers contribute lap data. It’s notable that two of the most popular sailboats, the Tako and Fizz were not included in the original handicap trials. That happened because the handicap was originally designed to rate boats for PHRF-style mixed fleet racing, and the Tako and Fizz seemed to hang out with a different, more One-Design crowd. That obviously was a mistake, and it would be very valuable to have lap information on those boats as part of the growing database.

If you want to add your scores to the Handicap Hotlaps, go here for all the info; I will keep updating the spreadsheets, and talking about the results here as we go along.

!!ADDENDUM!!

Less than an hour after I posted this article, I discovered Svar Beckersted’s new water sims were under installation. The eight new sims [and more to come!] will greatly expand the navigable waters in the USS. Unfortunately, the changes in geography mean that the NYC B1A race course no longer works. This offers a wonderful opportunity to set up a new Handicaps Hotlap course designed to compare performance across the spectrum of sailing vessels.

Watch for more news in a day or two, as soon as the tectonic plates come to rest in their new positions in the Southwestern USS!

Not Just Another Pretty Face

This article was originally posted on January 27th, 2008

It was tragically lost from the site three monts ago,
but  was recently extracted again from the ether.
After a week up front here in the spotlights
it will go back to its proper temporal sequence in archive.

 Leetle Cat Gets a Tune Up! 

Three rather wondrous boats emerged late last summer from Trudeau Yacht Yard; the Twenty, the Knockabout, and the Leetle Cat. Each had distinctive features and responded to specific user requests.

The Leetle Cat was the last to hit the water, and like all Trudeau boats, it was modeled after a particular real-life boat: The Beetle Cat. The Beetle Cat has a unique history, and since my home port is SL’s Nantucket Yacht Club, I have to admit I’m pretty partial to it.

Nearly 100 years ago, the Beetle family  of New Bedford were held in awe for their production of sturdy whaling boats, the kind that made history of Nantucket sleigh rides.

How incredible were those sailors in their work-boats? Go read Philbrick’s  In The Heart of the Sea, or if you are on the other side of the Atlantic try Caroline Alexander’s The Bounty, both tales of incredible journeys by determined sailors crossing oceans in frail dinghies from centuries past.

 Anyway, let’s get back to them Beetle Cats! The Beetle family invented them around 1920; they were intended as a small boat that would help children learn to sail. No surprise, the Beetle Cats quickly became incredibly popular, and (also no surprise) rather huge fleets of kids who never grew up continue to race them, often pretty outrageously.
 

Fully aware of the history, Jacqueline Trudeau initially positioned the LCats as teaching boats, proven in the real world and ideally suited for Second Life as well.  As shown above, these are the first, and to date the only Trudeau boats with a centerboard!

Although intended as a teaching boat, LCats almost immediately ended up on the racecourse (I blame Epicurus Emmons For that perverted vision (grin)). They’ve since proved themselves to be extremely popular and great one design competition boats.

if you have any doubt, go take a look at Waypoint Yacht Club’s Leetle Cat Regatta, where 18 boats crossed the start line together! A truly wondrous event that was as much fun to watch on the SL World Map as it was from the waterline.

 The LCats were so popular, in fact, that a host of opinions and ideas landed up in the TCYR suggestion box. J Trudeau’s been hard at work on a Leetle Cat refit, and this week those upgrades hit the water!

The plot above shows speed over ground for the new Leetle Cat 3.2. the green curve is with centerboard down, and, as expected, it clearly shows enhanced upwind performance with the centerboard deployed.   The blue curve on the other hand shows the same result with the centerboard up.  Somewhere over 110° apparent the stabilizing benefit of the centerboard is outweighed by drag, and the boat travels significantly faster with the centerboard up.

Since the LCat was originally designed as a teaching boat, the centerboard effects detailed above are somewhat exaggerated compared to real life. For example, at 160° there is a 50% boost in SOG with the centerboard pulled.

The numbers shown above are comparable to the plots for the earlier LCat, although we don’t yet have PHRF scores. 

The graph below puts the LCat in context, showing where it sits speed-wise compared to its sister ships the Knockabout and the Twenty (with the upcoming J-Class boat thrown on top).  As you can see, the LCat is substantially faster than either KA or T20. In real life without a jib the LCat will  be slower of course, but once again Trudeau Classic Yachts took the liberty to tweak the speed for ease of use as a teaching boat. I’ve yet to hear anybody complain the LCat s too fast, though! 

Everyone who now owns an LCat will of course gets the v3.20 upgrade for free. don’t worry, the new boats are just as pretty as the old ones, they’re just a lot smarter, lighter, and  more friendly.  (Oh! and before I forget, there is a big surprise you’ll discover as soon as you open the box, one I guarantee you’ll love… I promised not to tell what it is, so you’re going to have to discover it yourself (OK OK, you can give me an IM too if you can’t wait).

Anyway, here’s a partial list of the ‘more mundane’ feature upgrades:

a new, more efficient wind shadow system
a revised, lo-prim HUD;
an option to pick your own internal communications channel, and 
a simplified “settings” notecard system that is easier to use and offers a sailor a higher degree of mistake-proof control over the boat’s interface.

 You can also find a copy of the LCat FAQ here.

As I mentioned above, the initial performance plots look pretty similar to the curves I reported for the LCat awhile back. That doesn’t necessarily mean it will race the same, however. In the upcoming weeks I’ll chart the windshadow and reefing plots too, and we’ll all figure out together if the upgrades impact function in a crowded race fleet.

As a prelude to this great release, last week I watched the fleet from Waypoint Yacht Club put the absolute-last beta through its final tests. At the crack of dawn in SL, the intrepid Waypoint fleet quietly converged on the Atlantic raceline.  They were the last quality check, sailing the same boats the Schiffsratten had tested a few days earlier, and deemed worthy of their high standards.

Taku Raymaker commanded a small band of experienced skippers that included Massy Johin, macro Nacht, reia Setsuko, Kei Cioc, and Nuggy Negulesco. They did a simple, upwind-downwind Test Drive and pulled out all the stops, pushing the new hardware to its limit. 

In the first race, macro Nacht had all the tricks and held all the cards. I only have the unofficial times shouted by the line, but by that oft uncertain index, macro crossed the line with a perfect 00:00, followed eleven seconds later by reia Setsuko. Massy Johin was right in there, less than five meters astern, crossing the line at +00:00:27.

 As I mentioned, the Waypoint push-the-limits LCat race was pretty early in the morning on the side of the globe, and I started my day wearing jammies and fumbling for a cup of coffee with one eye open. However, as soon as Commodore Raymaker started that two minute countdown, my eye bounced open and I gripped my mug with white knuckes…

In case you hadn’t noticed…  the Waypoint Fleet are pretty incredible. They know how to race!!!

Trying my best not to spill my coffee, I rubbed my eyes and leaned into the monitor, watching macro rip ahead, taking the clean air and making the best of it. That’s macro in the above right picture, rounding the yellow mark with the rest of the fleet off in the distance over his left shoulder. macro did a flawless lap, coming in well ahead of the rest of the fleet.

Right behind macro, however, a real duel broke out between Kei Cioc and Massy Johin, two marvelous skippers.

Many of the best sailors in SL are real-life sailors who bring their experience and skill to the racelines here. That’s not the case for Kei Cioc, however. When I last spoke with Kei (with Taku’s help!), he told me he had never sailed a boat In real life. His skill at the helm is all the more remarkable since it is entirely the product of his focus and determination to learn sailing essentials within SL’s constraints.

All Kei’s effort has certainly paid off this past year! He was a finalist in the 2008 World Fizz Cup and more recently he’s proven extremely dangerous in a variety of One design classes. A quick look at the race standings for the last several weeks shows Kei racking up repeated first and second place finishes in Fizz 3, Leetle Cat, ACA33, Mirror… And practically anything else that floats.

On the morning in question, however, Massy Johin was pressing Kei hard; as you can see in the top frame of the image below, the boats were parallel and overlapped as they descended on the yellow mark and entered the two-boat-length zone. Up to that moment, Massy was in a commanding position, holding windward advantage and hugging Kei to keep him shadowed.  As soon as they reached the mark and entered the two length zone, however, Kei saw the chance to break free from Massy’s stranglehold. 

Kei had ‘inside rights’ in the zone and in the top frame below you can see him tack sharply in an effort to carve a sharp hairpin turn around the race buoy. You also see Massy correctly following the rules and going wide to give Kei room.  Let me give a shout-out here to Massy Johin for that; in the midst of the havoc and excitement of such a close race, it takes a cool head, an experienced hand, and remarkable situational awareness to stay wide and not foul the inside boat. Nice job Massy!

If Kei negotiated the mark correctly from that inside position, he had the chance to gain a few second advantage over his opponent as they both came out of the turn. A couple seconds can mean everything here, since the return trip from yellow is a near-run. Unless Kei could gain time and cleanly break free, Massy would come around the mark and end up sitting right on Kei’s stern.  From that vantage point Massy could unreef his main and let the sheet run all way out, blanketing Kei and starving him of air. Massy would be in control, biding his time, waiting for the opportune moment to blow past his opponent and sprint for the finish.

Both of these sailors are remarkably skilled.  They were aware of their options, and waited for the precise instant to best play their hand.

From that inside position, Kei had to go first and went for it, cutting it extremely sharp. Although his maneuver seemed flawless from my vertex perch above the mark, Kei failed to leave extra room at yellow (shown in bottom frame of image above). The tetrahedral buoys in Blake have a collision mesh that extends outside the edges of the visible buoy. Kei evidently forgot. He roared into the circle, forcefully cutting the turn to keep maximum momentum as he aimed along the edge of the visible mark. Instead of streaming by and exploding free for home, Kei slammed straight into the invisible edge of the buoy, bringing his boat to an instantaneous dead stop (bottom frame above). I got whiplash just watching… and spilled my coffee.

From his wide position, Massy Johin was able to steer clear of Kei’s wreckage, then throw out full sail and steam Northwest on a full-out sprint to the finish.

The rest of the fleet streamed in after, and Kei limped over the line too, No worse for the wear and tear. Waypoint’s conclusion about the new Leetle Cat upgrade?

As Taku collected data and I went to find more coffee, the fleet offered the only opinion that ultimately really matters. With one voice all the skippers began shouting “NEXT RACE!!!”

Second Life Sailing Association: A Reappraisal 

1. SLSA Group

I have been thinking about the Second Life Sailing Association (SLSA) recently, and what it means.
In RL, the International Sailing Federation has been around for a little over a hundred years. It began because there was a recognized need to set basic standards and policies for sailboat races. ISAF evolved into a truly global organization that promotes the sport of sailing, advocates for sailors, and sponsors major sailing events.

The Second Life Sailing Federation began in the summer of 2005 under the direction of Kanker Greenacre. Reviewing its history, it seems pretty clear that SLSF was modeled after ISAF. The SLSF group sponsored races, they developed SL sailing technology, and they advocated for sailor’s issues. The sport of sailing flourished in Second Life, in part due to the cooperative spirit of SLSF.

Last year the Second Life Sailing Association (SLSA) began, with a stated intention to replace SLSF. However, there were significant differences between SLSF and SLSA. According to its charter and my understanding of the early discussions, SLSA was established as a “free association of sailors” and there were no special powers assigned to the officers or the organization outside of maintaining the group. On one level that may sound very egalitarian, I guess; but if you think about it, that description actually makes the organization largely meaningless, since SLSA has no structure to decide anything, to do anything, or to advocate for anything. I think the SLSA charter is very different from the initial spirit of SLSF. In my opinion SLSA is no longer modeled after ISAF; in some ways, it’s actually the antithesis.

The problem becomes obvious when you realize that SLSA now can’t even sponsor a sailboat race. Since there are no officers, no organization and no authority, SLSA can’t endorse anything; frankly, it can’t even endorse its own existence. Under the present charter, it’s probably inappropriate for any race regatta or SL Sailing event to use the SLSA logo or mention SLSA involvement, if that use implies sponsorship or endorsement. Individual members can fly the burgee or display the SLSA logo; other groups can too, as long as it’s just a decoration. SLSA, however, doesn’t do anything official.

I understand the reasoning for this current situation, based on the original SLSA charter, but I personally think the policy and the charter should change, or that we need another group. Please: don’t take any of my comments here as criticism of MarkTwain White, the founder and owner of SLSA. MarkTwain has done a tremendous amount to promote SL Sailing, perhaps more than any other individual. My comments are intended to start a discussion to build on past accomplishments so we can all take this process a step further. For example, I think it should be possible and appropriate to come up with a consensus statement that allows sailing clubs in SLSA to sponsor regattas that are officially endorsed by SLSA. Such endorsement could even be automatic, consistent with simple guidelines we could all agree on (such as “open to all sailors,” “consistent with good sportsmanship,” etc).

Some might argue that an organization that sets standards could prove harmful, preventing sailors from sailing the way they want, or blocking them from organizing their own events. Personally, I think that view has no merit and amounts to a scare tactic to keep sailors disorganized. Remember, we are discussing an advocacy group and constructive guidelines for sailing and racing. There is no “enforcement.” Consider also the kinds of guidelines we are talking about: Good sportsmanship? Does somebody really believe that advocating good sportsmanship is going to hurt the sailing community?

ISAF has been around for over a hundred years. The organization has been a great asset to sailing. I think such an organization in second life could provide similar benefits. That was the intention of SLSF. It should be our intention today.

2. SLSA Brand

There is a serious issue close to the center of this discussion; it concerns the use of the “SLSA Brand.”
What does SLSA stand for, who speaks for SLSA, and who can use the SLSA name and logo when promoting their products?

What does SLSA stand for? Since it cant endorse or advocate for anything, SLSA doesn’t stand for anything.

Who speaks for SLSA? According to the charter, the apparent answer is ‘nobody.’ Frankly, I think that answer results in confusion and misunderstanding.

Currently in circulation there are different protocols, products, rules and policies that are supposedly officially sanctioned by the SLSA. That can’t be true, since officially SLSA doesn’t endorse anything. Even if SLSA could endorse something, there is no one with authority in the group to act on it.

This endorsement issue leads to a host of uncomfortable situations. For example, since I am a member of SLSA,  does that mean I can make a teeshirt with the SLSA logo, call it the “Official SLSA T-shirt,” sell it on XStreetSL, imply the proceeds support SLsailing, then pocket the money? As far as I can tell, a strict answer to that question is “yes, I can do that.” After all, SLSA doesn’t offer opinions or make policy, even about that.

On the other hand, if a responsible group of SLSA members want to make T-shirts, they can NOT call them “Official” T-shirts, even if they give them away free. Why not? Because SLSA doesn’t do ‘official’ anything.

This paradox might seem laughable to many sailors, except for the fact it could harm SL Sailing.

Consensus protocols. I’ve had long talks with Mothgirl Dibou and many other sailors about the importance of consensus protocols for sailing, and where SLSA fits in. As I mentioned in the beginning, ISAF initially began when sailors recognized it was necessary to have a set of basic common standards. That was clearly one of the intentions when SLSF began too.

Recognizing this need still persists, Cynthia Centaur and Mothgirl Dibou managed a discussion thread on ORG last year trying to come up with simple, commonly agreed script protocols that would potentially benefit everyone in the sailing community. A small number of those protocols are posted on the slsailing Wiki. Although they are described as ‘SLSA protocols,’ it’s obvious from the above discussion that they are not endorsed by SLSA. They simply reflect the interpretation of the understanding of those people who posted notes on a particular thread.

Don’t get me wrong, I think those protocols are very important, and are in fact essential for the future development of the sailing emulation here in second life. However, I want to be part of an organization that encourages those advances, recognizes them and, in selected cases strongly endorses them. We can’t make progress without standards, without critical thinking, or without a consensus group vision.

SL World Cup. Bea Woodgett is presently putting together an SL World Cup Organization. It will sponsor the World Fizz Cup 2009, and it will set a potential structure for a  wide range of future sailing events. I would personally like to see SLSA officially endorse that effort and be part of it. I would have liked it even more if Bea Woodgett could have set up her group under the wing of, and with strong support from, SLSA. We all support her efforts, we should be able to show it. SLSA should be able to endorse her regatta, and her initiative for World Cup Racing; that’s what ISAF does in real life.

It seems obvious. If as sailors we do nothing else, we should support such a well-meaning and incredibly focused project that’s intended to benefit all sailors. SLSA cannot presently do that.

3. SLSA review

Issues. Do we need to change SLSA? Expand and build on Bea’s group? Should we return to an SLSF model? Perhaps we should start a new group that initially focuses on racing, with a series of ad hoc committees and an elected or rotating chairperson…

These are big questions. I have ideas, and I’ve received many suggestions from different sailors. Most feel its a legitimate concern, a few do not. I’m interested in putting these issues before the sailing community to sollicit a wide group of opinions before any of us try to make recommendations.

This note is cross-posted on SLSailing.org. It may be easier for some sailors to reply in that forum.

Mo’ Beta

Yesterday I told you about a wonderful new boat, the Shelley Fizz, that was just released for beta testing. Although still in testing, the boat is a colossal hit already, with impromptu brown-bag beta-regattas recruiting sim-busting crowds of sailors. I suspect the Shelley will sustain that start-up steam for some time, as in just 48 hours since the beta release it’s undergone significant revisions that enhance even further it’s potential  as a teaching boat.

I’ve been handing out Shelley betas to every new sailor I see, and the response has been pretty enthusiastic. (okay, okay… I know this is a beta and I shouldn’t be handing them out… but let’s consider it a research project.)  Just as a cautionary note, let me comment that today one new sailor was so gleeful over getting a new Shelley that he came back to thank me and kept trying to kiss my sneakers. (I’ve had situations where accountants tried to do that in RL and let me tell you, it’s really embarrassing.) If you start distributing these boats please check where the Exits are first so you can leave graciously when a crowd develops.  

Here are the new additions to the Beta three:

— A ‘Coach” sit position was added (R-click on root prim in centerboard). This is a bit tricky to accomplish. Moth will make sitting the coach more convenient in future betas.
—  The centerboard was made retractable (L-click on it).  At this point the velocity improvement is relatively minor with the centerboard up.  
— Increased lift (sail power)
— Collision Mesh problem with boom was fixed.  As shown in the image to the right, you should still leave considerable room above the visible top of the mast to avoid hitting it.
— Race ID system was added.  Remember that discussion we had a couple days ago about people trying to race this ‘teaching boat?’ 
— Anyone can take the helm and sail away, not just the owner. Actually I thought this was pretty convenient, butI understand this is a bug and in the future only the owner will be able to take the helm.

Fizzle need a lift?

Kentrock Messmer asked me to come over to see his new Fizz 3 boat lift. it’s actually pretty nice, and particularly good for tight spaces near a dock. Although it seems a perfect fit for a Fizz, it is actually quite suitable for a variety of different small boats. if you are like Kentrock, I’m certain you can entertain yourself for hours, maybe days, by repeatedly spinning the wheel to cranking the boat out of the water, and then reversing the process to put the boat back in the water.  Up, down; in, out.

The lift is made by Clay Ellison, who has a new shop over in Sabeus. Go take a look, and if you pick one up you can amuse yourself just like Kentrock does.

.

J-Class Beta-5 

 If you are losing sleep, anxiously awaiting the launch of the upcoming Trudeau J-Class sloop, go take a Xanax. There is no need to worry; the J-Class is coming along nicely.  In fact, it went through a couple Beta versions in as many weeks recently.

I guess one of the problems that will lead to justifiable delays is, well, ”serendipity.” The Leetle Cat has been in the Trudeau Boatyard recently for a rigging upgrade and new instruments. A number of changes that are going into Leetle Cat also seemed appropriate and portable to the new J-Class. Those include improved wind shadow, a lower-prim more efficient HUD, an option to pick your own internal communications channel, and a simplified “settings” notecard system that is not only easier to use, it also gives a sailor a higher degree of mistake-proof control over the boat’s interface.  J-Class will  benefit from all of these changes as well, which essentially amounts to getting an upgrade before the boat is even launched.

In the latest beta version (Beta-5) there are four sit positions, including the helm. The sit locations for the crew automatically change position to balance the boat, with the avatars appropriately sitting on the leeward side then moving to the rail once the boat starts to heel significantly. As always in Trudeau boats, the animations are quite nicely done.

Trudeau boats aren’t just about looks by any means, of course. There have been many discussions recently about form and function of RL spinnakers, and how that’s translated into SL on the J-Class. The final tuning of the head sails is still under debate. I’ve included a picture above right of Chaos Mandelbrot, Corey Copeland, Vin Mariani, Taku Raymaker and myself from a few nights ago embroiled in yet one more discussion of spinnakers in RL and SL. We missed Armchair!

 Nav Buoys

 Nathaniel Lorefield stopped by the NYC clubhouse this morning to talk about navigation buoys and show off some pretty nifty physical bouys he’s put together. The markers are constructed with non-sculptie prim, so there are no collision mesh issues, and they quite realistically bump out of the way when you run into them. It was a good opportunity to discuss again the importance of standardized fixed aids to navigation in SL and get Nat’s input.

More on that topic in the near future!

Shelly Fizz Poster

Before I end this rambling list today, let me also note that Mothgirl Dibou put out a public request for help drafting a poster that could be used  as a dispenser for the free Shelly Fizz boats. That shouldn’t be too hard, there are so many wonderfully creative people in the SL Sailing community.

I took a few minutes to give it a try, but I’m sure others can do it much better.  Send your ideas over to Mothgirl!    

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