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Forum Index: DISCUSSION: Dock Talk:
Port-Line Start Boat 		Team McLube

 
 


The Publisher
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Jan 2, 2010, 11:12 AM

Post #1 of 5 (2316 views)
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It’s Time for a Port-Line Boat at All Our Majors


by Ken Legler
Tufts Sailing Coach
US Sailing National Race Officer



A Port-line boat is not a pin boat that motors around near the starting pin “helping” the race committee sight the line. It is a starting mark, anchored, engine off, with a tall orange flag. More important it is manned with one or two race officers with loud hailer and/or radio. The advantages of using a Port-line boat are huge. With the proper ground tackle, Port-line boats can adjust the angle of the starting line right up to the preparatory (two-minute) signal. The biggest advantage is sighting the line. By sighting the line accurately from both ends, the number of general recalls can be reduced by 90%.

Why now? Port-line boats have been commonly used by the ILYA (Inland Lakes) for forty years. Elsewhere they have been used somewhat sparingly all over the world. A couple things have changed in college racing in the last few years which increase the need for a Port-Line boat now. One is the use of gate marks. Instead of one or two marks at the bottom end of the course, there are three or four; two gate marks and start marks. When the wind shifts and the marks get moved, which is which? If the start mark is either a boat or a tiny anchor buoy for that boat, the gate marks stand out. The Port-line boat not only avoids this confusion, it can also help adjust those gate marks.

Another reason is that our major regattas have become deeper. There are many more great teams in this century than at any time in the last century. Now every boat is on the line, and if they cannot see the pin, more boats are over early. This adds up to more general recalls, which are unfair and a waste of precious racing time. There are also more RC boats than before since team racing switched to N courses and are often umpired. In team racing we use a start boat, a finish boat and often a mark boat as well. In fleet racing we can have a two start boats and a mark boat. If only two boats are available, either start boat can cast off from their tiny anchor buoy and adjust marks fast.

Do we want a Port-line boat at our majors and championships or at all our 18-boat regattas? Let’s take a page from the great race managers of the Inland Lakes and use a Port-line boat whenever it improves the racing.

Port-line boat technique:
#1: Install a short PVC tube on the starboard side of the cockpit for holding a tall and vertical orange flag.
#2: In order to reduce the chance of tripping a competitor’s centerboard, a second line, two meters long, is strung from the bow with a heavy weight, clipped and sliding along the main anchor rode. Also, use a small boat with the flag within six feet of the bow.
#3: Give the Port-line race official the authority to call boats over directly so competitors get the word immediately.




Matt Bounds
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Jan 4, 2010, 8:38 PM

Post #2 of 5 (2281 views)
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Re: [The Publisher] Port-Line Start Boat [In reply to] Log-In to Post/Reply
I think usage may more common than you suggest, Ken. An anchored pin boat has been used at every large (20+ boats) championship I've been involved with, either as PRO, B.I.M.B.O. or competitor for some time now. All the Hobie Class North Americans use them and I used them at the F18 and Soling Canadian Championships last year.

I really don't like trying to call a line with more than 30 aggressive starters / more than 0.2 nm long without an anchored pair of eyes on the other end of the line. Neither do the competitors.

From my personal experience being the pin boat race officer at the 2009 Beneteau 36.7 North Americans, the RC radio protocol for addressing the competitors has to be clearly defined - and practiced - before the heat of a start. Sometimes it is better for all the calls to come from the PRO, especially if the competitors are not familiar with the voice of the pin boat on the radio.

Matt Bounds
Regional Race Officer
Hobie Class Assn Race Director



Attachments: 16 Worlds Fiji 1233.jpg (128 KB)


TL
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Jan 5, 2010, 6:55 AM

Post #3 of 5 (2256 views)
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Re: [Matt Bounds] Port-Line Start Boat [In reply to] Log-In to Post/Reply
Ken offers some great advice in this article, and with his racing, R/C, and coaching experience he backs it up. Our yacht club (Lauderdale YC) has recently been involved with helping run the Laser course for the youth Orange Bowl Regatta, and the first person who we sought advice from on running large and "extra large" fleets on one line, was Ken. Like the E22, past M24 and other large fleets we also added a mid-line boat that is able to call OCS boats, at his suggestion. Our starting arrangement takes the concept a step further and our pin boat displays all starting signals, flags, horns, and recalls in "synch" the main R/C to stbd. Thanks for the help Ken!


KenVoss
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Jan 6, 2010, 5:48 AM

Post #4 of 5 (2174 views)
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Re: [The Publisher] Port-Line Start Boat [In reply to] Log-In to Post/Reply
I think the heavy weight at the port end is necessary, to avoid making the last part of the line unusable. however, if there is any kind of seastate, how much does the pin boat move back and forth (changing the line position) as the pin boat takes up this slack? Easy to see it working on a river or small lake (such as the Charles), but on a typical day in Biscayne Bay it may be an issue.


Mike Levesque
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Jan 7, 2010, 6:58 PM

Post #5 of 5 (2088 views)
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Re: [KenVoss] Port-Line Start Boat [In reply to] Log-In to Post/Reply
Not sure if Ken is reading the forum, but as I read his letter, it appears that he is speaking to college regattas. As Matt said, we have been using pin boats at major Hobie Cat regattas for at least 10 years. Further, the vast majority of regattas that I’ve worked on Narragansett Bay over the past several years (from Opti/420 JOs through M30 Worlds and Olympic Trials) have used pin boats. It seems like a no-brainer that it should be the same elsewhere, but it sounds like it may not be.

I’ve worked with a number of great NROs and IROs, and I have yet to see anyone do this better than Ken. For example, Ken insisted on a total of 4 starting boats for a 320+ Opti regatta last year (four 80-boat starts per race), zero general recalls.

To Matt’s concern about communication, a script is key. I’ve seen some very experienced teams struggle with this, but again, Ken has it nailed. He has a very specific script that he practices with the pin boats, and he communicates the entire plan to the sailors at the briefings.

While Optis, like Hobie Cats, don’t use radios, the script is very important to eliminate confusion, particularly with large, aggressive fleets. The radio calls are recorded as part of the start sequence, and can be used in the event of redress hearings.

I use a pin boat at nearly every event I am PRO, and use a similar script, recording everything as we go. I have never lost a redress hearing for OCS. It probably helps that the sailors in my primary area have become accustomed to this over several years, but even when people are unfamiliar with the practice, it always gets excellent comments when executed well.

KenVoss, as for your question about how much the pin boat moves in heavy seas; it really is pretty negligible. As in, no more than an anchored pin buoy. It is pretty “interesting” to stand in a 20-foot RIB, staring down a line of 20 Melges 32s in 20+ knots of wind, offshore in four-foot seas, but when those are the conditions, they tend to give the pin plenty of water, especially if it’s a boat with people in it.

Mike Levesque, RRO





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