Tracker type comparison for use in the SHTP

[Philpott]

How about eliminating the "Tracker" requirement from the race instructions....???

As a Blue Star mom, I would never argue with a general.

[pogen]

I'm not that familiar with DeLorme, but from the discussion above and what I have seen from Yellowbrick on many races in the past they have a very easy to use system from the point of view of both the competitors and those whose job it is to get tracking info to the public. The YB unit is completely self contained and imposes no additional work load on the competitor after install. The YB unit should be mounted on the rail for use -- this is mandated in the SIs for other races. I am concerned that if one is operating the Delorme below decks (possibly below the waterline) without a deck-mounted antenna that it may not be as reliable as YB. YB also has a good track record the last few years as the tracker for Transpac, Pac Cup, Cabo Races, etc. and I understand customer service is good.

Even if we were to make the fairly radical change to use tracker data in place of daily manual position reports, we would still be faced with the same DL/YB system choice. Neither, I believe, gives feedback to the sender that his message has been received.

In the 2012 PacCup, one acceptable method of daily position reporting was to send an SMS via satphone to a certain shoreside phone number, and a few minutes later one would get a pingback text confirming message receipt. I think this worked well. Note that for PacCup and other races, if satphone is an essential part of your comms for position reporting, then a deck level antenna is required.

So all in all using what we know today, I would support Yellowbrick as the choice if a tracker is to be mandated.

[Harrier]

I'd agree with the previous post, IF trackers are mandated. I also think that, if trackers are not mandated, then SatFone
transmitted position reports should be enabled as an alternative to SSB reports, which may not always be suitable due to propagation problems.

[ronnie simpson]

because we only have 3 entrants .

who are the 3 entrants?

i am a huge fan of the yellowbrick trackers over any other alternative - if trackers are mandated.

and i am a huge fan of trackers being mandated. it's 2014. the technology is there and it works. it is positive in every single aspect except for the matter of cost.

last year alone it saved me from penalties of not checking in when i had absolutely no battery power in the race. hand steering a moore with a chute up, i didnt really want to have to text on a sat phone either. instad, the brilliant little automatic, bulletproof reliable, beacon mounted on my pulpit did it all for me. and it allowed me, a sponsored entrant- to be viewed by sponsors and supporters. the yellowbrick format makes the race infinitely more attainable, viewable and entertaining to anyone not actually sailing on a boat. in this day and age of social media, we should be doing what we can to keep the race vibrant and relevant and the yb format is brilliant.

and then after the race the tracker allowed me and my really cool friend ruben to go on a fun boat ride in maui and help a sick shtp entrant get his house back.

in a solo ocean race, i very much like to simply be able to sail my boat and not do much else but sail my boat. even checking in is a burden if you are focused on sailing. i skipped many check ins in 2010 because only 1 per day was required. and last year when i physically didnt have the ability to check in and was totally focused on sailing, the tracker allowed me to remain focused on sailing.

[BobJ]

This race isn't to feed the social media. It has never been a popularity contest or a means to build a sailing career.

For years we have been able to get the position information sent ashore and put up on a web page. The volunteer effort required to get that done is part of what keeps us together as a club. Yes, it takes some work - both on the part of the skippers and a couple of folks here at home who love the race and want to support it with their time and efforts. Do we no longer have any of those people?

Indeed, some years skippers had power problems which caused them to miss check-ins. They paid a time penalty for it. It's supposed to work that way to encourage good preparation. That's why we have seminars, we help each other, give advice, etc.

The problem is that most of you lack the long-term history and perspective on this race.

[Harrier]

Bob: Your last comment could be arguable, to say the least!

Used to be that those competitors who were ham licensed picked up VHF positions when possible and sent tham back to a Ham in the Oakland Yacht Club. Probably less than half the fleet got their positions reported to RC. But on we went. I still am adamantly against penalties for not reporting. With race being probably the most expensive W. Coast race, it seems to me that garnering a 1 hour penaly per day in the event of failure of a piece of Japanese radio equipment is shameful!

So, at least, the Yellow Brick in last year's race eliminated that problem. So if the RC is going to require mandatory daily checkins...or else!...I vote for the Yellow Brick. "IF" is the operative word. I'm more inclined to not require checkins. Enable them, encourage them, but don't penalize us for electronic failures. As I recall, your mentioned once that , as Race Chairman, you were worried that competitor "X" could not communicate positions. I'd say: Don't be.

[Lightspeed]

Lightspeed is one of the three signed up and here are my thoughts:

1. I hope the final decision will be made by the majority of the racers.
2. I vote for Yellow Brick.
3. Lightspeed had YB in last year’s Pac Cup and it worked flawlessly, clip it on the stern and go.
4. The race is a personal challenge but many of my family and friends have worked hard to help Lightspeed. They want to see the race and YB tracking is a simple way to do that.
5. Technology is moving so fast that the device you own/buy today will most likely be obsolete in 3 to 4 years so rent YB.
6. Last, Ronnie is right. Things can get out of control and YB’s simplicity makes it my vote.

Rick/Lightspeed

[Critter]

Bob, what do you mean you did the TOD for YB in 2012?

As I recall, at some point, during or shortly after the race, the scoring was totally wrong. YB apparently didn't understand how to do TOD scoring.

[pogen]

I'm pretty sure if we can coordinate with YB with enough advance notice, providing them the exact formula etc., and possibly doing some dry-run testing beforehand, we can get the real-time scoring estimate to work.

[brianb]

I wonder if the live scoring guess should be left to the committee and not the satellite service provider ? After all it is just a guess until all boats have arrived. A daily spread sheet could be put up to show standings for those onshore.