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.

Monday evening quiz

It's amazing what people will sail in RL. However, SL is only one step behind. I've sailed rafts, plywood cubes, leaf-boats, pumpkins and paperboats. Check this rather fantastic - ehmmm - vessel:

A new racing class?

The hull doesn't exactly look fast, and the mast is too short, but still it moves like a cat. I wonder what's the expected top speed? It probably won't fit into any known VPPs. Anyone wanna take a wild guess on the top speed?

Monday morning quiz

For those of you out there feeling razor sharp on a monday morning: What's wrong in this picture?

What's wrong here?

I can think of at least five things...

The lighthouse post

There are so many lighthouses in this virtual world. Way too many. Not that I don't like them, but some places they're flocking. Some of them are beautiful in their own respect, some are beautiful replicas of real world lighthouses, and some are just plain ugly. This first example is from Tradewinds, Dex, where the lighthouse population has exploded lately.

Tradewinds, Dex

I quite like the Tradewinds lighthouse. Someone told me it's a replica of a real world lighthouse. I think it's in the US. It makes sense to have a lighthouse just there, because this is the first piece of land that sticks out in the ocean when you approach from south or west. I suppose there is no need for a sector light here, so it is ok to just blink red. Those other two lighthouses, they're just clutter. And the little yellow buoy there? The buoys deserve a separate post. There's no firing range there. No fishfarm and no cable or other submerged equipment.

Wicktro

South of Tradewinds, across Siracusa, there is the Wicktro lighhouse. Again, beautifully built, and again it makes sense, because it marks the north end of an island in the middle of the ocean. No need for sector lights here either. It could make sense to have sectors indicating where there's deep enough for a bulk carrier. Also, there is a no go zone to the east. Again there's a strange buoy in the picture. IALA says this is a traffic separation buoy, but there is no channel markers, so what's it doing here?

NYC

This one is really pretty. It's at NYC, Nantucket Yacht Club. It could have sectored light because there are directions from which it should not be approached. For instance you cannot sail to the north-west of this lighthouse. Note the entrance to the marina has red and green lights. Europeans should be aware that those lights are reversed in the american speaking parts of the world, and that includes the virtual marina here. Red to starboard for inbounds!!

Crows Nest

In the middle of the Blake Sea we have the famous Fastnet Rock replica: Crows Nest. No further introduction needed. I have no RL charts with that lighthouse, so I dunno if it is all white or if it has sectors. However, the Blake Sea is so shallow it makes sense to have sectors indicating heavy ship routes. 

Half Hitch

Now it gets interesting. This here is Half Hitch, and it is placed in the middle of an entrance to another ocean - or where the Blake Sea connects to another ocean. Loads of islands and loads of nogo places that are rather unlit at night. Sector lights would make so much sense here.

Barbarossa

South of Half Hitch we have Barbarossa, - also located in the connection of those same two oceans. As you can see, there's more land further south, but there's also land to the west, north-west, north-east, east, south-west, south-west to south and due south. This lighthouse should have been way bigger and with a handfull of sectors. That would have made it fun to do nightsailing in this area. Well, except that the pier in the front here is not marked in any way. Brrr. Those small buoys also need some work.

Schooner Run, side view

The last one that I've chosen for this small and in no way complete lighthouse tour is the one in Schooner Run. There are many nice lighthouses in the North Sea too. In this post here you can see the lighthouse of Mango Marina. Back to Schooner Run. It is so beautifully placed in the middle of loads of islands and small reefs. This time of year the trees are in all the colours of the fall. (It really deserves a full screen view). Sectors might make sense here too, to guide traffic from hitting hidden rocks and stuff. Here's a shot from the map to illustrate how this lighthouse is placed.

Schooner Run, top view

So what the h... is she talking about? Sector lights and all? I assume old salts will know, but perhaps a shot from a real chart will make it all make sense. This next one is from Copenhagen. I don't suppose I need to explain sector lights, do I? It is pretty obvious what they are, right? The yellow cones mark the safe waters between those major lights there. So bulk carriers and Russian missile cruisers can get in and out without running aground. 

Copenhagen, Denmark, in a parallel universe

Now, imagine being out the in the dark night. You can sail for hours having just one light ahead of you, or nothing at all. Approaching a small marina there would be like one small light to look for. Approaching a major harbour there are thousands of lights. The sky is lit as if in a disco. Small lights, big lights. Red, yellow, green all blinking differently. It's truly an amazing view, and it can be quite overwhelming to navigate. I mean, you gotta find the right yellow light to steer after. And trust your instincts cause you cannot see what's in the water until you're very close.

Svaneke, Bornholm

Here's a more simple example: Approaching Svaneke, a little harbour on the cliffy island of Bornholm. It's south of Sweden, in the Baltic. You come in from the north-east, stay in the yellow zone, until those two reds are aligned, then you turn to starboard and head for the harbour keeping the reds aligned and you are safe. If you googlemap it, you'll see those cliffs outside the harbour. This more simple but still very realistic scenario would easily fit into the virtual world.

Now, I realize the virtual world will need some sort of organisation to set all this up, and we probably - probably - don't have a harbour with the complexity of a real harbour, but still... isn't this just the perfect  job for the SL coast guard to set up the navigational aids along the virtual shores? Those buoys and lighthouses, they could need some work. Having good markers and lighthouses would certainly make it even more fun to sail the virtual seas.

Torpedo boats in Blake

Watch out for those fast moving torpedo boats. I met one in the south east corner of the Blake Sea. There's a distant roar and then a minute later something almost flies past you in a cloud of foam and bubbles, leaving you rocking in a huge wake. Hold on to your hats and beers.

A torpedo boat at warp speed

Luckily this one disappeared just as fast as it emerged. Peace restored faster than you can spell Warp Speed. I wonder if they're out chasing UFOs? They'd probably need help from a Harrier to shoot down one of those. More like a carrier full of Harriers ...

UFO over the Blake Sea

I went out to get pictures of a few lighthouses. Started from Tradewinds and made my way down the west side of the Blake Sea. Suddenly there was a strange sound from above. I looked up and snatched a picture, and this is what I saw:

UFO over Blake

Anyone reckognize this?

Night sailing

Few things are as immersive as night sailing. That goes for sailing in RL, but it also goes for SL sailing. There are differences though. Virtual nightsailing it is not as inherently dangerous; Which is good because the buoys, markers and lighthouses in SL only make sense on rare occasions. At night it is even worse. Most virtual lighthouses just send out a white blink. There's usually (if ever) no zones indicating safe waters or anything. It seems these are called sector lights; We call them zone lights.

Night sailing

The lighthouses and the buoys really deserve a separate post. They are closely linked to the missing charts of the virtual oceans. Luckily the virtual GPS - or rather the virtual electronic chart if you like - works great and just like you'd expect. Here's me and Dutch sailing the Cafe Del Mar in the beautiful virtual moonlight. I was in the passenger seat, so I am not quite sure, where we are, but it is somewhere south of Tradewinds.

Coastal

The wind was medium strong, but we were inshore so the waves were not too bad. The wave simulation is not described in the manual, so I cannot comment upon it. It's nice, but I dunno what to expect as BWind boats have no concept of wave simulation. Let's stay with nice. The boat tosses around and you get the impression that there are waves. In any case the Cafe Del Mar seemed to like inshore sailing. I was getting kinda sleepy from all those small rolls and the lovely sounds from the bow wake.

Dutch at the helm

Here's Dutch at the helm of his latest toy. Note that Dutch is so cool he has to wear shades even at night. Anyway. I suspect this is the one boat he likes the most; While I absolutely love the VO65, I gotta admit the Cafe Del Mar is a very nice cruiser. First of all it sails very nicely. It feels like a racer, not like a cruiser. The accelleration is good, and the rudder is very responsive. In fact it feels almost as the VO65, which is no coincidence, since it is sort of a touring version of a VO65.

Relaxation

Ok, it doesn't look much like a VO65, and I'll admit that at first I hated that boathouse he put on top of the deck. However, once you come to terms with the rooftop design, the hull itself has very nice and modern lines. And is it complicated to sail? No, it's supereasy and intuitive. As already mentioned, this boat is easy on the rudder and very lively. Almost like a dinghy. No need for huds and numbercrunching. Sail by feel. I love it. It works great - even on this rather big 75 foot yacht.

Sunup

Here's a shot of those lines. Looks like sunup. We must have changed course. Yes, even in the virtual world the sun comes up in the east. Sunup is coffeetime. Hehe. It's a good thing we're on a Cafe Del Mar. There's loads of stuff inside, and almost all the little gizmoes work. There is also a coffeemaker. Didn't see a watermaker, but then again I didn't look for it either.

Gizmoes inside

Here's a peek at those gizmoes inside. Besides the coffeemaker, there's a shower, a couch and a table plus a huge bed in the bow. And you can sail the boat from that panel right inside the cabing. It's great for foul weather even though this boat clearly is meant for easy sailing and easy onboard living. Yes, you can race the Cafe Del Mar, but no... it's not really meant for that. Still, - note the telltails. They work, but they are positioned somewhat strangely. For instance I cannot see the headsail telltails while steering.

Blue water cruising

This is what the Cafe Del Mar is really meant for. Yes, you wanna click this picture and fullscreen it. It's virtual cruising. Blue water cruising even. At least in SL. It would need more long distance cruising gear to cross the pond in real life, but it sure is big enough. Size matters differently in SL. I sailed around the new Seychelles in SL in this, and for that it is too big. I'd much rather be Fizzin around those islands.

Blake Sea cruising

For Blake Sea cruising it doesn't get much better than this. If you are looking for a cruiser that is more than a daycruiser, the Cafe Del Mar is a step up from earlier times. I know I've been looking for a boat that sorta supported virtual on board living. There are others, but the Cafe Del Mar takes it to the next level. It sails nice, it looks nice and you won't get claustrophobia from staying on board over the weekend. Even if you bring a few friends, there's enough space.

More nightsailing here.
More liveaboard here and here.