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Thread: 2023 Three Bridge Fiasco Feedback

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Dec 2022
    Posts
    147

    Default 2023 Three Bridge Fiasco Feedback

    Hello, Three Bridge Fiasco Competitors!

    We changed some things this year. Please give us some feedback on how well we met our goals, and the race in general.

    I have three topics of special interest:

    1) The area within 150' of the start line has been reserved for boats about to start for many years, but we have seen many boats in the past go in there "before their time" and distrupt the smaller boats attempting to start. To give small boats more breathing room, this year we measured out 150' on shore and placed flags there, as well as people with clipboards and lists of boats and their allowed entry times. From your perspective, did that help, make no difference, or ? Any unintended consequences?

    2) We have also had SIs in place about "if you are over early, don't go back, we'll give you a start penalty" for a while. In an effort to align with the 2021-2024 rules, we adopted DR21-01 to do essentially the same thing as prior years, but in a more 2021-2024 RRS-friendly way. Any feedback on that, either as a concept (which we've been doing) or implementation (the switch to DR21-01)?

    3) Several years ago there was an impromptu raft-up at Yerba Buena alongside a Coast Guard ship. Damage ensued. The old restricted area was 100' from the side of that ship, and this year we thought that if someone was getting swept where they did not wish to go, 100' was not enough distance / time for someone to deploy an engine or anchor. Was the new restricted area successful at reducing the risk of a ship encounter there?

    We hope you had a fun day on the water, and have stories to tell for years to come.


    Richard, 2023 SSS Race Co-Chair

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Sep 2007
    Location
    Capitola,CA
    Posts
    3,338

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    Hi! Fun day on the water. Two comments: We saw many boats labeled "DNC" on the course. What is your interpretation of "DNC" vs. "DNF?" Also, multis should not be listed with monos in the overall results as their PHRF ratings, and thus starting times, do not compare..... my 2 cents. Thanks for your hard work!

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Sep 2007
    Posts
    3,688

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    Yeah, you need to take down Overall Results by Course and post Overall Results: SH, DH, Multi SH, Multi DH. Great to have them up in <24 hours - thanks!

    Good race and from my perspective, well-run. It was fun to hear some long-time SSS voices working the radios but it appears check-ins were an issue again. In 2014 when I was 3BF's PRO, we didn't do them and nobody died.
    Last edited by BobJ; 01-30-2023 at 09:28 AM.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Jan 2010
    Location
    Carson City, NV
    Posts
    79

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    Always a great event and I always feel indebted to the Race Committee members that make it happen. Thanks! Special thanks to you for taking the time and energy to try to improve the process!

    I am also a little concerned about the 100+ DNCs. I heard a lot of folks calling RC multiple times and not getting a reply. Perhaps the level of DNCness in this one merits consideration that it was probably not 100+ competitors with dysfunctional radios and maybe we should score them.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Jan 2010
    Posts
    3,485

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    Hi, Barcanova, good to know you are back on the water! I have a few thoughts about your post. First of all, I only count 56 DNCs, and can personally attest to the fact that at least four of them are boats that I know did not leave their slips. There may be more, people who looked out their windows and saw all that fog, people who didn't think the wind would ever come up. Lots of reasons for people to not compete.

    There are all those other reasons, too: People calling from the other side of Alcatraz, people forgetting to check in, people using handhelds that were inadequately charged. I remember hearing someone on the RC mentioning that they themselves were using handhelds. For whatever the reason, they were not high (and warmer) up on the GGYC deck using a big fat antenna. And they stood on the seawall all day long. For us.

    I'm willing to bet they responded to every boat that tried to reach them close up. But then again, I've been on many a race deck, so I'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt. Everyone should spend time on the SSS race deck. Standing up in the dirt of Drakes Bay would be especially eye opening.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Jan 2010
    Posts
    3,485

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    The SSS needs to get a permit from the Coasties every time we have a race on the bay. If we don't know who's on the course we can't tell the Coasties that we have accounted for all the people on the course at the end of the day. We can't say, "Oh, most of the sailors are safe. Maybe four or five are still out there, but we don't know. They might be floating around somewhere." No No No. That can't happen.

    The Singlehanded Sailing Society no longer requires ACTs or SATs or even MCATs. We got rid of those long ago so more people could come out and race. For this race people didn't even have to have a PHRF for their boats. That is also reflected in the number of newbies registered. Personally? I think people just need to make sure their radios are charged up, and maybe they need to leave the dock a little early in order to sail over close to the RC in order to get a response. My My. The world is going to hell in a haybasket.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Jun 2019
    Location
    Santa Cruz
    Posts
    9

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    Thank you RC for a difficult job that you did well, with the exception of the radio work. I called my check in 5 times using my masthead 25 w vhf and 2 times with my handheld fully charged 5watt dsc vhf. My radios could hear each other transmitting and I was no more than 100 yards from the comity’s for several of those. I did finally get a response and was able to communicate that I had an alternate sail number to add, which the committee repeated back to me and wished me a good race. At the finish, I tried three times to contact the committee that I was finishing and the boat next to me also tried calling twice. After my third try the committee member informed me that they were busy. I received a DNC. I started 2 minutes after my official start time because I wanted to be careful not to be in the restricted area before the 5 minutes before my start. This should not be a reason for the DNC. I heard many boats with booming transmissions not get an answer. I don’t know if there was a problem with the committee’s radio, but it was very frustrating transmitting into emptiness. If I didn’t have two radios, I would have thought that I wasn’t transmitting at all. Thank you again for your time and effort. Whether or not I get scored is really not a big deal in the overall picture, but the lack of communication did detract from some of the enjoyment of the day. Thank you, George McKay, SV Skye, Capo 30

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Sep 2007
    Posts
    3,688

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    Same here George. I called in 4X on Ch. 66 w/masthead antenna, each time closer to GGYC. Note Ch. 66 defaults to low output - not sure about 71 for the odd-numbered sail numbers like yours. I did finally get a confirmation and was scored.

    There was often a substantial delay until the RC member responded to each check-in, during which time several more boats tried to call. Maybe RC had trouble finding each boat on their lists? She did announce she was on a handheld - I thought GGYC had a built-in VHF w/rooftop antenna. In fact I think SSS bought it.

    Just trying to help. I still think check-ins for Bay races are like television on honeymoon...

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Sep 2007
    Posts
    371

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    As RC 2016 & 2017 we had several radio issue at GGYC not only on the TBF but also the SHF. GGYC is gracious enough to allow use of their race deck so maybe we have a radio expert in our membership who could volunteer to check the GGYC’s gear. It could also be one channel was GGYC unit and the second a handheld.

    Another idea in todays world is texting or emailing as alternative or backup. One very late SHF night I keep in touch with a racer through his emails that worked amazing well way out the gate even though his VHF did not..Just food for thought..Rick

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Jan 2013
    Location
    Montara, CA
    Posts
    803

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    I appreciate everyone's input. Very nice and helpful comments. In due time, I plan to post a post-mortem about the radio issues and maybe some of my thoughts on how to address this in future races. But not tonight I was just glad that everyone seemed to be having a good day on the water despite the fog and light wind at the start. And Dura Mater should get an Endurance Award.

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