Flag Signals

   My club (Starcross YC) produced a spec for a start lights and air-horn hooter system more than 20 years ago and had it built by a local electronics contractor.  It has worked absolutely reliably since then for all our club racing.  With one click of a button the OOD can run the lights and sound sequence for up to five fleets - leaving the OOD to focus on dealing with OCS and general recalls.

The lights are mounted on a flag mast which forms one end of the start line - layout of lights is shown above.  Each of the five fleets has two coloured lights for the start signals - the lights are set at slight angles to widen the field of view and also to provide bulb redundancy (though the bulbs actually last for years).  We use a 6/3/0 start sequence - at the warning single the fleet light flashes, at the preparatory signal it is displayed continuously, and the light goes out at the start.  The preparatory signal for fleet 1 is the warning signal for fleet 2 and so on. There are also two strobe lights used in combination with the fleet lights to indicate postponement, individual recall, general recall, shorten course and race abandoned.  The only flag we use is the C flag to indicate a change of course before the start.

We have just added a high resolution camera system linked to the lights system which records video to support OCS decisions and checking finishing positions.  The lights system is also synched with our computer timing system as most of our racing is done on a handicap basis and with an average turnout of ~40 boats (and a max this season of 66) the OOD doesn't need to be getting involved with handicap calculations.

I don't think we'll be rushing to go back to flags anytime soon.

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marke Send Private Message Find Member's Posts Far too distracted from work Joined: 16 Jun 08 Location: United Kingdom Online Status: Offline Posts: 211	Post Options Post Reply Quote marke Report Post Quote Reply Posted: 04 Nov 21 at 10:42am
	My club (Starcross YC) produced a spec for a start lights and air-horn hooter system more than 20 years ago and had it built by a local electronics contractor. It has worked absolutely reliably since then for all our club racing. With one click of a button the OOD can run the lights and sound sequence for up to five fleets - leaving the OOD to focus on dealing with OCS and general recalls. The lights are mounted on a flag mast which forms one end of the start line - layout of lights is shown above. Each of the five fleets has two coloured lights for the start signals - the lights are set at slight angles to widen the field of view and also to provide bulb redundancy (though the bulbs actually last for years). We use a 6/3/0 start sequence - at the warning single the fleet light flashes, at the preparatory signal it is displayed continuously, and the light goes out at the start. The preparatory signal for fleet 1 is the warning signal for fleet 2 and so on. There are also two strobe lights used in combination with the fleet lights to indicate postponement, individual recall, general recall, shorten course and race abandoned. The only flag we use is the C flag to indicate a change of course before the start. We have just added a high resolution camera system linked to the lights system which records video to support OCS decisions and checking finishing positions. The lights system is also synched with our computer timing system as most of our racing is done on a handicap basis and with an average turnout of ~40 boats (and a max this season of 66) the OOD doesn't need to be getting involved with handicap calculations. I don't think we'll be rushing to go back to flags anytime soon.

Brass Send Private Message Find Member's Posts Really should get out more Joined: 24 Mar 08 Location: Australia Online Status: Offline Posts: 1143	Post Options Post Reply Quote Brass Report Post Quote Reply Posted: 04 Nov 21 at 11:29am
	Just a few personal opinions. Your club should do what your club wants to do. Within the RRS of course. Automate. If you can automate visual signals using lights, go for it, but beware of getting hideously complicated light sequences that nobody can remember. Beware of LED screens and high intensity lights that are too highly directional. LED screens might be a bit of a big budget item. I'd be inclined to look at the revolving beacon type lights, or maybe strobes with necessary colours or coloured screens. I think you could get by with 3 colours as Wetabix proposed and I discussed upthread. You can't do everything that you can do with a full flag locker, but for club racing you can get by. Use flags in sticks. Way easier than pole and halyard. You can double end some: AP and N, X and 1st Sub, etc. 5 starts with 10 minute sequence is very relaxed for the race management team, but it's robbing the competitors of 25 minutes of racing time, and if you General the first Class, and send them to the back of the queue, they lose 50 minutes of racing time, and then go tramping over the top of all the slower classes that are now in front of them. I'm sure Davidyacht has thought about this, and it might be an acceptable price to pay for automating the system, but if you automate your whole system, the system can easily cope with standard 5 min rolling starts. Clubs should work hard at recruiting and refreshing race management people and NOT take a pride in running races on the smell of an oil rag. The more tasks a race management person has to do at once, the more chance they have of screwing up one or all of them. Edited by Brass - 04 Nov 21 at 11:14pm

davidyacht Send Private Message Find Member's Posts Really should get out more Joined: 29 Mar 05 Online Status: Offline Posts: 1330	Post Options Post Reply Quote davidyacht Report Post Quote Reply Posted: 04 Nov 21 at 12:18pm
	Mark, I would be interested in talking through the high resolution camera should we meet at some time ;-) . We have looked at cameras on the Salcombe line and struggle to find anything that has good enough resolution to read sail numbers of boats at both ends of the line ... let alone those pesky HD numbers on a grey mylar background glistening in the sun! Also there is a synching issue with the flags, and whilst cameras may be good if you can wind forward or back to identify miscreants, it is less easy to ensure that a particular frame was taken at precisely the right moment. Not saying it can not be done, just don't know of the technology.
	Happily living in the past

Brass Send Private Message Find Member's Posts Really should get out more Joined: 24 Mar 08 Location: Australia Online Status: Offline Posts: 1143	Post Options Post Reply Quote Brass Report Post Quote Reply Posted: 04 Nov 21 at 12:47pm
	Looks like Starcross has got it taped. RRS Appendix G was changed in 2021 to make it crystal clear that if sail numbers can't be read the boat is breaking rule 77. It's trivially easy for boats to get new numbers in proper contrasting colours and stick them on over the old ones. If boats are breaking rules and inconveniencing the race committee, you know what to do. If you're using flags and are fussed about precisely syncing between line sight and flag drop, use a second camera with a WA lens to record the flags or position the primary camera behind the flags so they are in shot. Edited by Brass - 04 Nov 21 at 11:17pm