Thanks for your notes, they made interesting reading. Since a fully
automated system is not yet available and would potentially be out of
reach of many sailing clubs anyway, I hope to enhance Spray EasyTimer
to try and help with some of the problems highlighted. It is yet to
be determined how many boats can practically be managed by the
program, but I hope to have the results from some more trials soon.
The advantage of Spray EasyTimer over your trial software in 2002 is
that the boats are depicted in a picture on the screen, hopefully
making it easier to notice the one you are interested in. The boats
can quickly and easily be spun around the screen to locate the one in
question. After reading some of the other posts in here, I will be
looking at adding some easier ways of finding the boats that are about
to finish. It seems that typing in the sail numbers of approaching
boats is a good way of flagging up those that are about to finish. It
seems like it might be essential to be able to type in a number and
instantly assign a time to that number, without having to worry about
finding them in the list.
--- In sailwave@yahoogroups.com, "Geoff Burrell" <geoff.burrell@...>
wrote:
You may be interested in some comments following my experience of
trialling
a prototype system almost identical to this at Chipstead SC in 2002.
It had
pretty well precisely the same features as those mentioned and the
results
led me to follow a somewhat different approach which has been in use at
Chipstead since 2003. Our conclusions and rationale for the solution we
ultimately adopted may be of some interest.
Chipstead SC is on a (not very big) lake but we typically run 4
dinghy races
simultaneously involving 3 class races and one or sometimes 2 handicap
races. There could be anything from 45 to 80 boats sailing at a time in
races that are usually 4 or 5 laps.
We run about 150 AM/PM or evening sessions of sailing each year
which places
a big demand on our members to manage the race box, run the rescue
boats,
etc. This means that our race box team is always made up of normal club
members who do 3 or 4 duties each year and may not be proficient in
using
computers. Therefore any system has to be simple to use.
The prototype system created a list of competing boats on the screen
in the
order that they were predicted to cross the line after the first
lap, with
the next expected boat always at the top of the screen - in a block of
expected boats. The prediction was calculated on the basis of the
boat's
yardstick coupled with the skill of the helm determined from a personal
handicap derived from recent races. This was of course only a rough
estimate
for the first lap but aimed to enable each boat to be found fairly
quickly
from a block of boats at the top of the screen. As each boat
crossed the
line the sail number was clicked on the screen, its time was thereby
recorded on the system and the boat then disappeared from the
screen. The
list of boats kept scrolling up upon the predictions as these were
updated/recalculated.
The predictions for subsequent laps were updated based upon the time
taken
for the previous laps. On the last lap for each boat the final time was
recorded in the system and a sound signal made.
So how did this work out in practice? Basically the user still had
to be
pretty adept at finding the sail numbers quickly enough, and when a
large
group of boats came through together in quick succession it was
found to be
pretty unworkable - especially if they were Lasers with 6 digit sail
numbers. Inevitably some boats got missed on some laps and the
predictions
started to go awry - the expected boats did not then appear on the
screen in
the correct place. And many of the boats failed to appear where
expected on
the screen as the helms had a bad day. The work load in the race
box was
pretty intense/stressful and if, as often happened, the process
started to
go wrong then it quickly got worse and worse, panic set in and the whole
thing fell apart.
So we soon abandoned that idea!
It did however point us towards developing a rather less automated Race
Management System and it is this that has been in use at our club ever
since. This focussed on a quick entry system used by helms as they
arrived
at the club to race. The simply enter their sail number (numbers
only) into
their relevant race and a database then throws up a short menu of
possible
classes & helms from which they click on their boat. That is then
entered
into the race (sometimes after having first checked any simple relevant
boxes such as whether sailing single handed or age). Five minutes
before the
race the system sorts the boats for each race into order of fastest
first
(by yardstick) and then in ascending order of the last 3 digits of their
sail number. A race lap sheet is printed out for each race showing
basic
boat & helm details for the race officer to enter times (or
positions for a
class race), one column per lap. This provides a fairly quick method for
finding each boat as it crosses the line. A separate sheet of paper
is used
as backup to capture each boat in order as it crosses, but the aim is to
enter all times finally on the race sheet. At the end of the race
the system
prompts the user to enter times manually in the same order as on the
printed
lap sheets, so this process is exceedingly quick.
The boat entry system is extremely simple and allows new helms/boats
to be
entered into each race quickly and simply, and with their first
entry of the
season they are added to the database. The screens have been
designed to be
"idiot proof" so that competitors and race officers only need to be
capable
of pressing the numbers and Enter keys. The results come out within
minutes
of the race finishing.
The downside is that the system does not use Sailwave and is very much
tailored to Chipstead's specific racing programme of events. It also
includes the option of CHIPS scoring. It is written in Visual Basic (not
VBA) and works by manipulating several Excel spreadsheets
simultaneously. I
have contemplated creating an interface to input the boat entries into
Sailwave but have never found the time to embark on such a project.
But if
anyone felt the inclination to do so then the best way forward would
be for
me to make available some screen shots of the key data entry screens
so that
the principles could be adapted.
Regarding the possibility of automating the recording of boats as
they cross
the line I hope that our experience with this experiment might be a
little
helpful. I did consider the possibility of using infrared transponders
(retro-reflector) to be carried on each boat and illuminated by a
laser beam
as they cross the line. Technically I think this would be possible but
there was nothing suitable available when I looked at this 4 years
ago and
the transponder would have to be mounted in a visible (line of sight)
position on each dinghy. Cost was also an issue. Alternatively a
differential GPS approach might work but this might be too expensive to
carry on dinghies.
Another more sophisticated possibility I considered was again
optical but
relied upon using digital cameras and sail number (or pattern)
recognition
software which would have to be developed - not available at present
to my
knowledge and not cheap. It would also require some sophisticated
software
from which the race box would capture each boats in an image frame as it
approaches the line so that the system would then track it to the line.
Pretty whizzy but this method could well come into the range of
possibilities in the not too distant future.
I am pretty convinced that the only practical solution would be to use a
fully automatic system requiring the operator only to "capture" each
approaching boat on the screen and leave the system to do the rest.
Geoff
From: sailwave@yahoogroups.com [mailto:sailwave@yahoogroups.com]On
Behalf
Of Ralph Tingle
Sent: 27 February 2009 13:38
To: sailwave@yahoogroups.com
Subject: RE: [sailwave] Re: Box Duty automation
Sounds good - keep going & if you need any advice, there are lots
of SUG
members who will be keen to help develop something that meets their
needs
WRT fleet size, there are other factors which can create a 'log
jam' at
the line including wind strength, location of line in relation to the
previous mark, upwind, downwind, reaching finish, sail
configuration, course
size etc etc
Being realistic, I doubt if you are going to be able to code all
this into
your software.
However, if you could provided the option to alternate between
clicking on
···
-----Original Message-----
a sail number or entering via a keypad throughout the race, the user can
then make the decision on the day
Regards
Ralph
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
--
From: sailwave@yahoogroups.com [mailto:sailwave@yahoogroups.com]
On Behalf
Of sprayeasytimer
Sent: 27 February 2009 10:55
To: sailwave@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [sailwave] Re: Box Duty automation
Hi,
Many thanks for your comments and suggestions Ralph.
Spray EasyTimer is useful for recording times in multi-lap races where
you not only need to record boats at the finish, but also make a note
of how many laps they do (and hence track them after each lap). It is
possible to add entries to Spray EasyTimer as and when required, so
the boats could be added one at a time as they first cross the line.
I appreciate that this may be too difficult to do quickly enough,
although one of my future aims is to create a much quicker way of
adding competitors with the possibility of using ink recognition on a
spreadsheet-style / grid-style page.
Once the boats have completed at least one lap and all the boats were
clicked as they crossed the line (not necessarily completely
accurately), Spray EasyTimer is able to make its predictions about the
order they will cross the line next time round. This is where it
comes into its own, since it then makes finding the boats much easier.
The prediction of the order on the first lap is simply based on the
handicap number of the boats.
I also appreciate that Spray EasyTimer may currently be better suited
to medium or small fleets (perhaps with 50 or less boats?). This is
yet to be determined and I would welcome any feedback about that. Of
course, I am not trying to claim that Spray EasyTimer can make
predictions for single lap races based on sailors with completely
different abilities sailing the same class of boat! Although, maybe
that's for a future version. 
--- In sailwave@yahoogroups.com, "Ralph Tingle" <rat@> wrote:
>
> I have not had chance to download your file yet but I think it may
have one
> significant weakness
> "It is far easier to find a picture of a boat on the screen than it
is to
> find the boat on a hand-written sheet."
> I suspect that most recorders write down the sail number in the
order that
> is called, rather than finding the number on a sheet.
> This mental process is far quicker than finding a number on a sheet,
which
> in large fleets with blanket finishes would be impossible & many
boats could
> be missed
>
> The most difficult finishing scenario is a general handicap race
of 100+
> boats from Lasers to 18ft skiffs which requires writing down the
sail
> number, class and time.
> I have eased the problem somewhat by using a video which records my
voice
> calling the numbers, shows a picture of the boat & the time but
we still
> require someone to extract the data
>
> As a development of Spray EasyTimer, there could be value in adding
a method
> of entering the sail numbers in the order that they cross the line
>
> The recording of laps & times is great but predicting the order of
finishing
> ?? ........that really is something special even if it is 75%
accurate
> Some time ago, I developed a spreadsheet which required the entry of
sail
> numbers & it produced all the information that SET does.
> Unfortunately, recorders must have good keyboard skills & as
many of the
> team have forgotten when they were 21, I dumped the idea!
>
> Now if someone could develop some software to convert voice data to
alpha
> numeric which can then be imported to Sailwave, they would make
a lot of
> money 
>
> Hope this helps
>
> Regards
> Ralph
>
>
> _____
>
> From: sailwave@yahoogroups.com [mailto:sailwave@yahoogroups.com] On
Behalf
> Of sprayeasytimer
> Sent: 25 February 2009 20:51
> To: sailwave@yahoogroups.com
> Subject: [sailwave] Re: Box Duty automation
>
>
>
> Hi
>
> I have just completed the development of a program that does exactly
> what you want!
>
> It is called Spray EasyTimer and can be downloaded from
SprayEasyTimer
> dot Webs dot Com.
>
> I'd be very grateful for any comments you have regarding the
software,
> but you should find it extremely simple to use. You just click on
> pictures of the boats as they cross the line. It is much easier than
> trying to deal with hand-written sheets of paper and the results can
> instantly be imported into Sailwave.
>
> --- In sailwave@yahoogroup <mailto:sailwave%40yahoogroups.com>
s.com,
> "johndightonlink" <john.a.dighton@>
> wrote:
> >
> > At Upper Thames we currently write the sailing results down on
a sheet
> > of paper and then transfer them into sailwave at a later date...we
> > typically have different people in the box each week..
> >
> > We are keen to automate this process and would be grateful for any
> > ideas:
> > - does anyone use sailwave to directly input results as the race
> > finishes?
> > - has anyone developed a front end to sailwave to facilitate and
> > enable online entry?
> > - does anyone have an excel spreadsheet that is maintained at race
> > time and then loaded into sailwave later, perhaps automatically?
> >
> > Any ideas or thoughts would be appreciated.
> >
> > Many thanks, John
> >
>