Fizz Cup 2014

We saw some truely great racing in the North Sea this evening. Sixteen skippers signed up and thirteen showed. We were looking forward some busy times in the Fizz Cup team. I was on the RD boat, so here's a view from the rather chaotic prestart circus. That's excactly how it should be some 30 seconds before start: Chaotic.

The usual chaotic prestart 

During five fantastic races we had close to zero protests; None were filed, and I think there were only two or three incidents where someone found it neccessary to do a 720. There was some talk about someone hitting the RD boat, but I didn't see or hear it and I was the only one onboard.

Gogogo

The shot above shows the fleet en route - just crossing the startline in race one. It was a tight squeeze having 13 boats on a line as short as this. The line is supposed to be 1.5 times the total length of the fleet. This line was not; Amazingly, the expected barge-fest didn't happen. I suppose this has to do with the sailors knowing the risks of such a start. Another thing that made me wonder: Note the angle between the boats and the line. It looks like a portside start was favoured. Noone dared to take that chance.

Winner of the Fizz Cup 2014

After five super races we found a champion. She didn't have better peek boatspeed, but from my observations she was considerably better at keeping the boat at top speed. That's more of a boathandling thing. She'd be just a tiny bit faster at most maneuvers and especially after most maneuvers. Oh, and no capsizes even though there were mean gusts spread out over the course. Especially on the left side. That was more than enough. She won with a considerable margin. In fact she didn't even need to sail the last race. Congrats to Silber Sands. Very nice sailing. From my notes, I am pretty sure Armano is second and Ultramantra is third. Woots. What a great day out there... Thanx to Bea for organizing.

More on this very soon...

Sizzling Fizzes

There was a training session last nigth. Sizzling hot Fizzes all over the Fizzcup course including me. However, my sizzling stopped several times, as I was caught more than once in gusts I couldn't handle. In a Fizz that means getting in the drink. End of sizzle. I didn't have time to take pictures of me swimming, but luckily I wasn't the only thirsty sailor. Here's Bea climbing onboard again...

Bea in the drink

It is a lovely course with loads of local variations in wind, currents and waves, but yesterday I hated it. First of all I hate those waves. I still find it rather difficult to sail in - or is it on - virtual waves. I am pretty fast on flat water, but I haven't cracked the virtual waves in SL. Where I should be doing 6.5 knots upwind, half the time those idiotic waves pushed me off course, and since the wind was pretty strong that meant healing too much, which in turn made me loose speed.

The Fizzcup 2014 course

To makes things worse it has gusts and local variations. On the left side of the course there are strong winds. I saw that on the first beat, so I went there on the downwind... gennaker up and me and my Fizz made 12+ knots, wooohooo. But then came a gust, and as I tried to gybe I went swimming. Twice. Dunno how they did it, but some of the others seemed to be able to handle it. Maybe they waited a bit longer before they gybed. I probably gybed right under the red arrow. Don't. Unless you are really thirsty.

A much needed break

After a race like that a short break is needed. Loads of boat talk flying across. Just like RL. Love that. Also a few "excuse me's" were passed on. I for one decided to tack right after the start, but my tack was far from perfect so I rammed into a SB boat. Eeeks how embarrassing. Better keep a better lookout to windward next time.

Silber in perfect balance

Back on track. Here's Silber in perfect balance just a few minutes after a start. It seems Silber is always fast not matter what the conditions. Kinda like in RL. There are those who are known to fly in low winds. There are those who always win in waves and strong winds. Then there are those locals that read the currents better or know just the right track with better wind angles. Silber, she is just always up there. Gosh, I need more training time. Burt was fast too. He's in the blue boat right behind Silber.

Those gybing experts in action

On this next shot Silber has been overtaken. Happens a lot in these races. In one of the races last night we saw some very impressing close racing. The first upwind and the two next legs had three top contenders sailing within just a few boatlengths all the way. Now that's not just about trim and balance. When it is that close it is also about keeping your cool and knowing the rules of close combat. I don't have shots of that, because I was struggling with the aforementioned waves.

Close race

Here's a finishing photo from race 1 in which I didn't sail. That's how close it is most of the time. Last night we were just around 10 boats on the course. Next saturday there will be 16. Whooohooo. It's gonna be a busy time on the RD boat. Very busy. I can hardly wait... It's gonna be some Fizz Cup. This course here calls for expert sailing. I may have hated the course yesterday, but truth is I love it because it is so difficult.

The fastest Fizzers

The results of the Fizz Cup Finals already well known. So just for completeness and for reference: The fastest Fizzers are: Ralf80 Titanium, Ronin Zane, Ayahoshi, Jeremia Spotter, Yumiko Sideways and Iteke - in that order. Woots! The full results are available on the Fizz Cup site. Interesting to see the Master Fizz Magician Jeremia beaten by his apprentice.

Just sailing

Sadly, I was not able to watch the finals, but Orca covered the finals with a really nice post with loads of great pictures. It looks like a great day on the water, and that's what I hear too. The sailors did great, and lets not forget the RD and all her officials; They did a fantastic job making this event run so smooth. So here's a "Woots" for the RD and her team.

Fizz Cup Finals

Don't miss the Fizz Cup Finals. They're about to happen this very weekend. Silver-final on friday. Gold final on saturday. The precise schedule is available on the official Fizz Cup website. Here's a link. If you don't know what a Flying Fizz is, then look at the picture:

A Flying Fizz

Not enough for you, then check some of the features of the Flying Fizz here, here and here. The Flying Fizz is not the easiest boat to sail, nor is it easy to sail fast. However, it has unmatched sailing characteristics and trimming options. That's probably why it stays popular among keen sailors and racers.

Fizz Cup Qualifications

There was some serious fizzin going on in the Blake Sea this last weekend. The Fizz Cup 2013 Qualifications was held, and from what I saw and heard, it was a pretty good sailing weekend. Regretfully, I was only able to watch group 1, but the results of all three groups are available on the official Fizz Cup 2013 site. (Link at the bottom).

Ralf crosses first

The shot above shows what we saw most of the time in group 1. Ralf80 Titanium was just faster. He had one race with a crash, but other than that, his results are pretty convincing: Four firsts and a DNF. From the spectator platform it looked pretty simple. Ralf80 pinched better and he had better boatspeed. That's hard to beat.

The spectator platform

Here's one of the spectator platforms. This one is located behind the startline. There was another one to the south (right on the picture), and there was yet another one up at the top mark. The spectator platforms were very nice. Dicely decorated with flags, giant charts of the two qual courses and ofcourse the Fizz Cup 2013 trophies. The only thing missing was a beer dispenser in the corner; To set the mood...

Action

Here's a shot right after the start. Ralf80 wasn't always the first to cross the line, but if you have a boatspeed advantage that's really not important. In a fleet this small you can always find clean air and simply outspeed the others.

The courses were not straight up/downs. They both had a little twist, but they were pretty straight forward to sail. No need for a navigator. That would be fun though. Perhaps that's a future thing to do: Set up a course that's so complicated you need a navigator. The courses used in the qualifications are avaible at official site, and if you chech the results page, you will see lap and course times;

Obstacles

The SL coastguard was in place with numerous helicopters and surface ship,. Dunno if they have subs. I never saw a SLCG sub. Anyway, there were few problems with "moving obstacles" on the course, but I did snap this picture in the first round. This guy crossed the course at full speed and cut the fleet in halfs. Not a pretty sight. Sadly he was moving so fast I couldn't catch his name.

Ralf in the fast lane

Something else was moving fast. Here's another shot right after the start. Again, Ralf80 is in the fast lane. Slightly ahead and in a very good position. Iteke up there to windward will have a hard time hanging on. Not only is there the psych-factor, but she absolutely needs to keep pinching. The Fizz has windbend like a real boat, so if she sails just a little bit lower for a few seconds she will be in trouble.

Bottom mark

That's probably what happened. She fell down into the windbend and it was game over. Here's a shot of the bottom mark rounding. Iteke rounds second, but Ralf80 is already far ahead, sailing his own race at his own pace, completely free to choose whichever path he finds optimal.

Iteke wins the start

However, Iteke did make a couple of really good starts, and if she finds just a little bit more speed, she will be a factor in the finals. Here's a great shot of Iteke starting first. Not that you can see the others. They must have lost their nerve. They're simply not there.

The others try to catch up

Here are the other boats crossing seconds later. Most of them. The last boat was further away from the line. So, not only did Iteke win the start. With a positioned like that she should be in total control of he race and in particular of Ralf80. He is sailing the red boat slightly behind and to leeward. A few starts like that and a bit more boat speed, and those final races will be very exciting to watch.

The other two groups? I didn't watch them, but from the results it seems they also had one dominating boat. I guess someone will be out looking for speed these next few weeks. This is regular sailboat racing; Great sailing and suer duperly organized by Silber and her crew. The only thing missing is the seaspray.

Link to the official Fizz Cup 2013 site.

Gorilla-spotting

So you're in the Fizz Cup? Better be fast. Very fast. Last time I checked around the Fizz Cup sailing area, I saw this:

Weird hairy island!

Now, you probably cannot see what that is. You're probably thinking "ok, so there's a weird hairy island! So what"? New islands popup every day, every where on the grid. Well, look again...

Looking for bananas?

That's a giant gorilla allright; Better not take that yellow Fizz out sailing. This creature might mistake it for a giant banana. Not my idea of smooth sailing.

Big, hairy and sacry

Giant? Mmmhmm. Better believe it's big. That's a person right there on the left; Not an ant. This next shot is another island being inspected by the virtual King Kong.

Check the size of that lighthouse

I wonder if he likes helicopters for lunch. There was one flying around, getting pretty close, but the gorilla seemed to ignore it. Probably it was more interested in those people there. Snacktime maybe. Dunno.

Genakker up

All I know is that if I am out sailing and this creature looks over the hills of a small island it's time to hoist the gennaker and get planing.

Fizz Cup Teaser II

Fizz Cup teaser

Here's a couple of never  before published pictures from the Fizz Cup 2012; As a teaser for the Fizz Cup 2013. Here we are in the back of the picture between those two islands. The RC boat and a handfull of eager Fizz Fanatics waiting to get started.

Fizz Cup 2012 seen from a Loonetta

These pics are from the finals. Can't remember what day it was, but that's not important. The important things are the mood, the pulse, - the Fizz spirit... Virtual boat racing at its best.

Ready?

Here's me and Liv ready to start the action. As you can see, it was a really nice day for a boat race. That boat out there will have to hurry back to the starting area, because Liv will start the timer in a minute or so.

Now, we're ready!

It's just like real racing... if the sailors think the RD will wait for everyone to be at the startline before starting the countdown, then they'll never ever be at the startline at the same time. There is only one thing to do: Fire the gun and start the timer no matter what. They'll simply have to learn to stay close to the RC boat.

Boom - as in bang

Here's the fleet right after the gun. The gun shot - right at the start - is the one I posted a almost a year ago in the post with the results. It is right here: Fizz Cup 2012, Finals. That shot is an indication of what was about to happen. Of what we would see over the next few races.

Silber fighting for first place

Silber Sands was having a really good day at sea. She won the cup with an impressive series of 1-2-1-1-3. The image above shows that there was actually a fight for the first place. However, she did come around that buoy in a better way than Ronin.

Still fighting

Here we are at the next mark. There's still a fight for the first place. Ronin may be shaken but he is not (yet) beaten. The racing was quite intense, but Silber was faster.

Any protests?

After each race there's a short (bio) break, and we also ask if there are any protests that we need to deal with. In this case there were no protests, so we were ready for the next race.

Prestart

The clock is ticking. There's less than 30 seconds to the start, and here's me and Liv looking at the prestart action. Silber is not in "pole position", but she is accelerating. Just check the angle at which she is sailing up there to windward. Question is: Will there be enough space for her at the pin or will she be locked out.

Silber got away

I dunno precisely what happened here, but it seems Silber got away. This shot is just 45 seconds after the start, and Silber is already on top of the fleet. I cannot remember if there was a cross line current that  day, but that could have created the necessary space between the pin and the fleet for her to get a good start.

Ralf on the hunt

Again, there was a good fight. Here's the fleet pretty much together rounding a mark in the Blake Sea. Silber is in front, but the pack is close behind. Well, most of the pack. One boat has fallen behind. Ralf Titanium was faster on the last few legs of the course, so he took the first place in this race.

Silber starting first again

In the next race Silber was really in the mood. Check this start! Apparently Silber was the only one who saw the windshift right before the start. The picture shows a textbook example of a port side start. Very nice. Noone could catch her in this race.

The Champ on top of the fleet

I could go one, but this post is already rather lengthy. This last picture says it all. The champ comfortably on top of the fleet. That's what we saw on this lovely racing day. Congrats to Silber Sands. Brilliant sailing out there. Don't miss the Fizz Cup 2013. It's gonna be awesome.

Fizz Cup 2013

The Fizz Cup 2013 is coming up. It's been announced for a while on the Official Fizz Cup site, and those superimportant dates are November 22-24 for qualifications and December 7 for the finals.

UPDATE: The NOR just came on. Go to the Fizz site, click "Documents", click "Notice of race".

This is the hardcore sailors sailing the most advanced sailboat available in SL. If you are into sailing, you absolutely want to register either as a participant or a spectator.

What is the Flying Fizz? Check here and here.
What is the Flying  Fizz Cup? Check here, here and here...

Fizz Cup 2012 finals

The Fizz Cup 2012 finals took place today, and it was a spectacular day at the race track. We all met in the north east corner of the Blake Sea. Racers, spectators and Fizz Cup crew. The Blake Sea was in a good mood, so we had four lovely races with very few technical problems and some really nice sailing.

Fizz Cup 2012, start

Very briefly, - until I find the time for a detailed post: There was a good fight, but in the end Silber Sands turned out to be pretty untouchable; Here's the results of the four races and a total with one throwaway:

1. (1,2,1,1:3) Silber Sands
2. (7,1,3,2:6) Ralf80 Titanium
3. (2,4,2,3:7) Ronin Zane
4. (7,3,4,4:11) Ayahoshi Resident
5. (3,5,7,5:13) Krysha Lundqvist
6. (4,6,5,6:15) Kris Hollysharp

Congrats to all, and stay tuned for more details. Check the official Fizz Cup 2012 site for all details about the cup, and... there's a few more pics on Orcas blog.

Pictures from the Fizz Cup 2012

We had some good racing going on this last weekend. I wasn't there to watch group 1 & 2 on saturday, but I understand the saturday races were very good too. These shots are from the group 3 races on sunday.

Coasties, balloons and Flying Fizzes...

Here we're getting ready for the first race; The coastie is en route to the top mark. In the back there's a handfull of Fizzies waiting to start, and further in the back the balloon show is hovering over Tradewinds YC.

Waiting...

Here's a closer look at the racers. Still one missing; Not sure what happened, since the racers are required to register a half hour in advance. However, being late is in the RD department, which was being taken care of by Liv. I was there to sort matters in case of rules drama; Judge.

Bang and away

Anyway, we finally got off to a good start, - or at least a spectacular start. Two boats capsized right before the gun, so the crowd had fun too. As there was only five racers in this group, the other three easily managed to avoid the capsizers. Above you see most of the fleet away on the first leg.

Top mark rounding

It turned out that the sailors in group 3 of the Fizz Cup 2012 qualification were on very different levels, so after the exciting start, there was little action; It looked like - as a judge - I was gonna have an easy day with the boats spread out, minutes apart. Only rarely did they meet...

Todays fastest was Ronin Zane

The fastest sailor today was Ronin Zane; Here he is in his black boat, completely controlling the fleet from a windward position. However, Ronin had gear problems in the first race, so there was room for a nice surprise.

Kris Hollysharp going for the kill

Kris Hollysharp produced the surprise by taking first place in the first race; It is always nice to see new faces at the top of the fleet, and while Kris couldn't keep Ronin behind her in the next two races, she sailed very consistently and ended up with a series of 1-2-2. Nice work there.

Most consistent sailor: Colin Nemeth

The most consistent sailor of the day was Colin Nemeth who was very happy about his three thirds; Woot woot! What a great day at sea. Not without trouble though. The course took longer than anticipated, so we used a shorter course than the one announced.

Night sailing

In fact we ended up sailing the last race in moon light. Romantic racing? I don't think so. It's even harder to keep track of the opponents and the marks in darkness. Still, the crowd seemed happy. I guess they were having a party up there on the spectator platform.

Spectator platform

Well, that's it really. Three races and I was ready for bed, but that's just my timezone. Here we are, waving goodbye to all the coasties; They're always helping to keep the race course uncluttered and that's really great. Results and finalists available on the official Fizz Cup 2012 site.

PS: Still dunno what the Flying Fizz is? Check here and here.

Race time

Guess what time it is: It is race time. Not just any race! This week marks the beginning of the most interesting race in 2012: The Flying Fizz Cup 2012.

Race me?

It is - in my humble opinion - the most competitive race in the most interesting of virtual boats available in Second Life. Yes, the boat in the back is pretty, and yes it sails pretty well. The Fizz however, sails like a real boat and more importantly: It gives you the controls and the hazards of a real boat.

Crossing the Blake with Titiro

Sailshape, telltales, windicator, compass, currents, waves, wind, crewed trimming, gusts, balancing, capsizes, nosedives, shifts and local variations... So get ur behind on the move to Tradewinds this weekend and experience virtual sailboat racing at its best.

PS: The shot above is from a lovely day at sea with Titiro. Here's a shot from one early morning last year, right before the Fizz Cup 2011 started. I kinda like how that shot captures the quietness before the storm.

Smooth flying

Yesterday the sailing was bad. Still not sure what went wrong, but just a few hours later, the flying was very mooth, and somehow... it was related to the Fizz Cup too...

Smooth flying

So, how did I end up in a hot air balloon, you might ask... Easy enough: At Tradewinds most people  share an interest for building and sailing boats. Turns out Liv, the commodore, has a soft spot for (identified) flying objects. Aka planes and airships.

Balloon show at Tradewinds

This is probably how it came to be that after the live-aboard boat show, there is an airship show going on. The shot above is me heating up the balloon before "going to sea" in it. Never did this in RL, so I am on uncharted grounds here.

Ready for take off

So, - ready for takeoff? Let's see what this balloon can do. Push the pgup key, and the burner bursts into a roaring flame right above my head. I quickly shut it down and the balloon silently lifts and begins to drift eastward towards the light house. This is nice, but uhm... where's the controls?

Controls?

Phew; The winds kinda blew me right south off light house. Good. Now, - never mind the controls. What comes up must go down, and this thing is no exception. If I wanted to spend the night sitting on that yellow buoy I could probably have done that, but I decided to start the burner again... 

Reckognize this?

Perhaps I burned a little too much fuel here, cause the balloon went up pretty fast and the next thing I looked at was this ugly bugger parked over the clubhouse. Anyone reckognize it? Luckily the wind was blowing me away from the beast...

A much better view

Ahh... much better... I wonder if I can hit the island out there... if not, I can always use a parachute. If I can find it in my backpack. Parachuting is fun, but this post here is about the airships... Let's get back to the show... Err... arrow keys don't work. Oh how weird: Typing help seemed to actually help. There is a hud with buttons for controlling the balloon. 

Steering west

This is too easy... I can just click west, and the balloon flies westward... here we are approaching the clubhouse again. Note the other (dark) balloon in the back. Ok, so we have a hefty controllable seabreeze at Tradewinds, hehe.

More balloons in the back

There's loads of airships at Tradewinds. Big, small, cute, ugly... any shape and form. Some are realistic, and others are completely cartoonic. Don't miss the show. It runs throughout November. And don't miss the Fizz Cup 2012 starting this weekend. Didn't file this under unboatly, because an airship is a ship, so this is a boatshow... with a twist.

Many more details on Tradewinds website