Stopwatch: the Sail Numbers are Not Matched ~ Why?

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Background

TopYacht’s Computer Stop Watch (as well as other finish-time entry methods) uses only sail numbers that the TopYacht Operator types in to line up with the sail numbers entered in the race at registration time.

There are several scenarios.

  • The Borrowed Sail Scenario

Borrowing sails can have some unexpected consequences, especially if the Race Committee is unaware of such actions, and the owner of the sail is also a competitor:

  • The boat with the borrowed sail will be scored DNC by default, as no finish time would be recorded against the boats (real) sail number.
  • If the owner of the borrowed sail is an entrant in the series, but not racing, that owner will be allocated aggregate points even though he was not on the water
  • If the owner and borrower are competing, there will be two boats with the same sail number. By software design, TopYacht will use the latter time stamp in its calculations.
  • The “No Casuals in Stop Watch’ Scenario.

There are several scenarios for this, with each being discussed in the document.:

  • The ‘Dyslexic R.O. or TopYacht Operator’ Scenario.

Always assign one of the scribes to write down the finishing sequence ‘as they see it’ and not what the Race Officer calls.

Always make one continuous list. Do not separate out the boats into different division lists, as the relativity of boats finishing will be lost.

  • The ‘Boat is Not Entered’ Scenario.

For TES users:

  • The competitor must enter as a series or casual entrant, fulfilling the Organising Authorities expectations, then
  • The TopYacht operator uses Step 6a to import the additional competitor/s.

Step 6a will populate the Stop Watch provided the selection is made to “Load into Current race”.

For Other users:

It is possible that a late casual has appeared at the start line.

The Club’s policies as spelt out in the NoR should describe how these are handled. Regardless of this, there is still a duty of care to monitor these casuals just for their own safety.

Click HERE to download the reference document