OCS; Are we missing something?
A guest post by Mike Butterfield (IRO, IU, IJ) GBR
Boats that are OCS are one of the big problems for race officers. We do have a number of tools at our disposal to deal with it but I wonder if we are missing a trick.
At the moment our first line of defense is the raise the “X” with it’s sound signal and as an alternative we can have a general recall with “1st Sub” and it’s two sounds. It just depends on how confident (and quick) we are in identifying the boats OCS before we make the decision.
We know with “X” we have about 5 seconds and this year I had one start where it stretched to 13 and Redress was given to the sailors. Incidentally as they did not return (which would have taken time) and they were given a 20% place penalty by the RYA Appeals panel.
In our race management training we accept we will not identify all boats OCS and ask our pin, what they have, and they reply with two numbers, those they have as over and those they can identify. From this and our observations we see if we have most boats and make our decision “X” or “1st” sub.
Now we know ISAF have Race Management policies for the Olympics and ISAF events which covers this point. In these guidelines we are told “When the race management team is satisfied that all boats over the line have been identified, an Individual Recall will be signalled.”
Now we have just noted we differ from the guidelines, by our two number system, to get a good percentage of boats identified before we call Individual Recall. What may be needed for the ISAF events is not what we necessarily need to worry about for fair day to day racing.
ISAF say in their Race Management Policies:
Now I have never seen it done, and nothing is said of it in training race officers, so it appears to be universally accepted – BUT WHY?!
To me within the time constraints we have (and put at 5 seconds) we have little enough time on the average start line to enable us to decide if we have identified all or most of the boats that are OCS.
What we do know is that we have OCS boats so it seems sensible to call for an “X” with its signal so we have this option available and we may see who starts to return relative to the numbers identified.
If after we have consulted our ARO (pin) and DRO (on committee boat) we are not satisfied we have identified enough boats what is unfair in going for the 1st Sub at this point. There does not appear to be an issue of fairness as we have called them all back.
I can see no real downside to this approach and would like to advocate we adopt this as a sound race management practice, or at least open a discussion on it. Anything that might save a good start is worth trying, and we know often if we go for general recalls we are rewarding those who pull the start over and force us to move to the Black Flag.
I think this new approach could assist in our race management practices and I ask you to consider it.
If there are comments please use the comment box below.
Mike Butterfield
If any of you want to discuss this privately with Mike, send an Email to the blog email and I'll forward you Mike's email address.
A guest post by Mike Butterfield (IRO, IU, IJ) GBR
Boats that are OCS are one of the big problems for race officers. We do have a number of tools at our disposal to deal with it but I wonder if we are missing a trick.
At the moment our first line of defense is the raise the “X” with it’s sound signal and as an alternative we can have a general recall with “1st Sub” and it’s two sounds. It just depends on how confident (and quick) we are in identifying the boats OCS before we make the decision.
We know with “X” we have about 5 seconds and this year I had one start where it stretched to 13 and Redress was given to the sailors. Incidentally as they did not return (which would have taken time) and they were given a 20% place penalty by the RYA Appeals panel.
In our race management training we accept we will not identify all boats OCS and ask our pin, what they have, and they reply with two numbers, those they have as over and those they can identify. From this and our observations we see if we have most boats and make our decision “X” or “1st” sub.
Now we know ISAF have Race Management policies for the Olympics and ISAF events which covers this point. In these guidelines we are told “When the race management team is satisfied that all boats over the line have been identified, an Individual Recall will be signalled.”
Now we have just noted we differ from the guidelines, by our two number system, to get a good percentage of boats identified before we call Individual Recall. What may be needed for the ISAF events is not what we necessarily need to worry about for fair day to day racing.
ISAF say in their Race Management Policies:
“The Race Management Team will not signal an individual recall and then a general Recall.”
Now I have never seen it done, and nothing is said of it in training race officers, so it appears to be universally accepted – BUT WHY?! To me within the time constraints we have (and put at 5 seconds) we have little enough time on the average start line to enable us to decide if we have identified all or most of the boats that are OCS.
What we do know is that we have OCS boats so it seems sensible to call for an “X” with its signal so we have this option available and we may see who starts to return relative to the numbers identified.
If after we have consulted our ARO (pin) and DRO (on committee boat) we are not satisfied we have identified enough boats what is unfair in going for the 1st Sub at this point. There does not appear to be an issue of fairness as we have called them all back.
I can see no real downside to this approach and would like to advocate we adopt this as a sound race management practice, or at least open a discussion on it. Anything that might save a good start is worth trying, and we know often if we go for general recalls we are rewarding those who pull the start over and force us to move to the Black Flag.
I think this new approach could assist in our race management practices and I ask you to consider it.
If there are comments please use the comment box below.
Mike Butterfield
If any of you want to discuss this privately with Mike, send an Email to the blog email and I'll forward you Mike's email address.
Agree that it is a good solution. Sometimes we need time to consult with the pin end committee boat to confirm that all boats have been identified, then it is too late for an "X".
ReplyDeleteI have thought about a different solution, which I did not have the chance to try yet: If we think that probably all boats have been identified, we hoist "X" right away with one sound signal. Then, if we find out that not all boats were properly identified, we abandon the race, hoisting "N" with three sound signals. This action fits perfectly within RRS 32.1, either (a) or (e). With it we do not have the same pressure as for the option between individual or general recall.
All the best, good wind, good races
I have used your proposal - first "X" and then "General Recall". No objections, and all sailors understood what we did. The solution with "N" is OK - but it is more informative to the sailors to go to "GR" because they then know why they are called back.
ReplyDeleteWith the trend towards open communication we might find ourself facing problems with the present system of calling f.inst. 6-3 and we end up only identifying 4 OCS boats. This tell the listeners that we actually did not identify all OCS boats, and it should have been a "GR".
It also leave an open question on which boats they identifyed and which is open - and did the RC then have the open ones?
A better approach might be to divide the line in a pin-end for the pin-end boat (perhaps last 1/3) and the rest then belong to the RC.
The pin-end reports "Individual" if she has all OCSs identifyed in her end or "GR" if not.
If the call is "GR" the RC should make a "GR". If the call is "Individual" the RC then have the decision depending of the call on the RC boat - "Individual" or "GR".
If both have individual the numbers are then transferred after the start, no sweat and everybody is happy.
And by the way - how many boats can we identify as OCS and still see the line?
Hans Vengberg
The "Race Management Policy" is not universal. Mr. Butterfield's proposal works better. The "Policy" provides a large incentive for general recalls, and if there are judges who think that 13 seconds is too long to wait to announce individual recalls, they should think again. Committees also might consider writing a sailing instruction that prescribes that either X or GR and sound signal will be made at 30 seconds after the start. This would even out the impact of the Individual Recall from race to race and raise the stakes for boats approaching the start line with excessive zeal.
ReplyDeleteTom Donlan
I'm pretty sure that, as Tom Donlan suggests, the U.S. Race Mgmt. Handbook is silent as to guidance against what Mr Butterfield proposes, and I'm sorry to admit that I was unaware of ISAF's advice against it. Consequently, I've been using it for some time with excellent results (ignorance is bliss!)
ReplyDeleteMr Donlan's suggestion that SIs be drafted to provide that an Individual recall signal will be made 30 seconds after the start is intriguing, but in the absence of such an instruction, I must respectfully differ with him that 13 seconds is a timely display of "X". As both a competitor and a judge, I think that's an eternity, and I believe it is beyond the "very few seconds" described in Case 79.
As we started a race a couple of weekends ago one boat was clearly(from my view, and by about 30m) over. The boat next to us also shouted that he was over. The trouble comes when the RO calls line clear over the vhf and no flags or horns. We protest and display the protest flag. At the end of the race we inform the RO on the committee boat of the protest. Back in the bar, the results come online and he is marked as OCS. So the protest is pointless. Now when we look back at the results they have been changed and he has a result.
ReplyDeleteIs this right? Can the just change things around? Im guessing our protest is now pointless as the cut off was the following night.
As we started a race a couple of weekends ago one boat was clearly(from my view, and by about 30m) over. The boat next to us also shouted that he was over. The trouble comes when the RO calls line clear over the vhf and no flags or horns. We protest and display the protest flag. At the end of the race we inform the RO on the committee boat of the protest. Back in the bar, the results come online and he is marked as OCS. So the protest is pointless. Now when we look back at the results they have been changed and he has a result.
ReplyDeleteIs this right? Can the just change things around? Im guessing our protest is now pointless as the cut off was the following night.
Cut-off point for any request for redress - because that is what this is - is two hours after you became aware of the error or omission. This looks like the RO made a mistake and at first corrected is and then not.
ReplyDeleteA Protest Committee can always extend the time limit if there's good reason to do so,
And yes, The RC can change results, that's there job. If they discover an error they can adjust the score for OCS....