A Day At the Races


The "Predicted Log Cruiser Navigation Contest"

There has to be something genetically engrained that causes human
beings to want to race. Whether on horseback, afoot, or in any sort of
aircraft, vessel, or vehicle we seem compelled to test who can travel
at the fastest or even most reckless pace between Point A and Point B.
A lot of boat racing involves specifically designed craft that must
meet rigid standards regarding overall hull length, horsepower, draft,
and displacement.
Hydroplane and high performance offshore powerboat races match vessels
that fall within carefully defined classes to promote effective
competition. Sailboat racers will compete in a "one-design"
category where hulls are essentially identical or will race under PHRA
formulated handicaps that in an ideal world would measure the skills
and performance of the crew rather than the design of the boat. Racing
sailors will all enjoy about the same amount of motive power (wind)
during any specific event. Hydroplane, offshore high performance, and
sailboat racers all compete on a speed related basis, but there is a
type of contest popularly referred to as a "predicted log race" or
a "cruiser navigation contest" that any powerboater can enter. A
predicted log race can be (and is often) won by trawlers cruising at
displacement speeds.

Finding enough general powerboat pleasure craft to constitute a
"class" and race in a contest based upon speed alone would be
almost impossible. For example, there may have been only two dozen
Whatnot 36's ever built, with no more than 5-6 in any corner of the
country at any one time. That fleet of Whatnot 36's may be powered
with a variety of engine models and single or twin configurations
ranging from 135 HP to perhaps 450 HP, so even boats of the same make
and model may be obviously non-competitive. In a predicted log race,
perfectly matched classes are assured because each individual skipper
competes initially only against him or herself. Rather than testing for
the highest speed, predicted log racers test their individual ability
to plot and run a predetermined course with exact accuracy. Scores in a
predicted log race compare the actual elapsed times for individual legs
of the course with the times the racer predicted he or she would
"log" for each segment before the race began. While predicted log
racers may complete a course at trawler speeds or well up onto plane,
the winner of an event will be the skipper who amasses the fewest
combined seconds of "fast" or "slow" deviation from the
performance predicted before the race. It isn't unusual for skilled
log racers to run a course of 25-30 miles with a deviation from
prediction of less than 1 percent.

To the uninitiated, following a prescribed route at an exact speed
sounds like the simplest possible exercise. With a shipboard computer
communicating with GPS satellites to plot the course down to the
smallest coordinate and adjusting the throttle to achieve and maintain
a very precise ETA, running any specific route in a precise time would
be relatively straightforward. Log racers are more interested in
testing their familiarity with the operating characteristics of their
individual boats and their personal navigation and calculation skills
than in determining which boat has the most advanced computer software
at the helm. In a cruiser navigation contest/predicted log event, the
skippers have no access to GPS information or even the time of day
after the race begins. Contestants are required to state, in advance,
the engine rpm at which they will complete the course and are allowed
to deviate by no more than 10 percent additional or 10 percent fewer
rpm to compensate for wind, current, and other variables encountered on
race day. The primary tools used by a predicted log racer are the
tachometer, the compass, and the human mind.

The Observer's Role

There is an active schedule of log racing events in the Pacific NW
every year, nearly all arranged by regional yacht clubs. One of the
more popular contests each spring is a race co-sponsored by Queen City
Yacht Club and Seattle Yacht Club. The governing organization for the
sport of cruiser navigation contests is the IPBA, (International Power
Boat Association). The IPBA assigns an independent observer to each
boat during the contest to record the elapsed times for each leg of the
course and to ensure that participants are not relying on forbidden
technology, (or even a simple wrist watch), during the competition. It
was in this role as "observers" that Jan and I found ourselves
reporting to the Queen City Yacht Club outstation in Bainbridge
Island's Eagle Harbor on the morning of April 1.

The Queen City outstation at Bainbridge is one of the finer club
facilities in the Pacific NW. There is room for over 70 boats to moor
and raft at the club's dock, and Queen City has enough shorepower
available to service them all. Few clubs have main facilities as deluxe
as the Queen City outstation, and with public moorage sometimes
impossible to find in Eagle Harbor the club members appreciate their
premium location just a few blocks from the shops and restaurants of
downtown Bainbridge. Our group of observers gathered in the
outstation's social hall for an orientation session conducted by
Jerry Johnson of Seattle Yacht Club.

Clubs participating in the race besides Queen City and Seattle Yacht
Club included Bremerton Yacht Club, Poulsbo Yacht Club, Port Orchard
Yacht Club and Meydenbauer Bay Yacht Club. The corps of observers
included club members and invited guests, as well as a contingent of
bright eyed, well-groomed young men from the University of Washington
Naval ROTC program. Jerry Johnson instructed us in our responsibilities
as observers and representatives of the IPBA.

Observers were charged with recording the time of day when the vessel
he or she was observing began following the assigned course. (Starts
are staggered, with the slower boats generally starting first. The
faster boats allow the slower boats a sufficient head start to avoid
creating a lot of overtaking situations during the race). We were
instructed to make sure that all computer navigation gear was shut down
at least five minutes prior to the beginning of the race, and to see
that clocks, engine hour meters, or other devices capable of reporting
time were covered. Once the race began, we would have temporary custody
of all wris****ches aboard, (an excellent reason for a log racer to
hope for an observer of stalwart character). In addition to recording
the time elapsed during each leg of the course we would be responsible
for confirming that any stopwatches used during "timed runs" were
operated for only those intervals specified in the skipper's
predictions and reset to zero at the conclusion of the timed run.

Following Jerry's explanation of our duties and a brief question and
answer period, our group of observers enjoyed coffee and doughnuts
while we waited for various racers to walk up from the Queen City dock
to turn in their final predictions to the judges and meet their
randomly assigned observers. To ensure objectivity, racers are not
allowed to request a specific observer. Jan was assigned to the 32-foot
Bayliner "Kichigai" operated by Dick Spence (a past commodore of
Queen City Yacht Club), and his wife Jan Spence. The race committee put
me aboard the 44-foot Tollycraft "Klettitat," raced by Queen City
member Ken Klett and his usual race-day partner Marvin Elbon. Bob
Marcelynas, (another Queen City member), has been joining Ken and
Marvin during the last few races and he came aboard just before we got
underway.

Ken shared an observation of the art and science of log racing. "Log
racing is about 1/3 preparation, about 1/3 running the course, and
about 1/3 luck."

Racing on "Klettitat"

An inspection of the instruments aboard "Klettitat" confirmed that
all types if clocks had been put away or covered. The ship's clock
had blue duct tape over its entire face, and the same tape had been
applied to the engine hour meters. The galley microwave, with its
digital time of day display, was disconnected. I collected the
wris****ches from Ken, Marvin, and Bob. Two stopwatches were available
to the racers for use during timed runs, but these were reset to
"zero" and not running during any other portion of the race. One of
Bob's duties aboard "Klettitat" would be to press the F5 button
on a laptop computer at each of the waypoints during the race. A GPS
computer navigation program would be comparing the actual course
steered by Ken with the ideal, predicted course. Use of the computer
would rather obviously be a violation of the contest rules, except that
a special "hood" was placed over the display screen so that there
was no access to time of day or other navigation information from the
computer. All that Bob could see was the perfectly legal keyboard, but
his work would create a record of the course to allow Ken and Marvin to
study their course and analyze any variations from the predictions
after the race was over.

My observer's timepiece was a printing calculator with a time of day
function. Underway, my job would be to hit the "print time" command
button at the precise moment when "Klettitat" passed a mark. Ken
would be the helmsman. Marvin would spot the various waypoints, and
call "Mark!" when a point was reached. Marvin's call would be my
cue to print the time, as well as Ken's signal to change course or
speed for the next leg of the event. Once the calculator had printed
the time, I was to transfer the numbers onto an observer's worksheet.
I was also responsible for monitoring the tachometer to confirm that
Ken operated within a 10% range of his specified RPM; 1600 for the fast
legs and 945 for the slow legs. Like many successful log racers, Ken
uses a tachometer with a large digital readout that will allow a
throttle setting to an extremely precise engine speed.

The course called for a somewhat unusual "running start." Ken
positioned "Klettitat" where he believed he would begin to
accelerate some portion of a minute prior to the official start time,
and managed to hold his position for several minutes using only visual
bearings. As an observer, I was allowed to inform Ken when the clock
reached his precalculated time to begin accelerating toward the mark,
and the originally planned "take off point" was accurate enough so
that our official start time was only off a few seconds from Ken and
Marvin's master plan.

The course took us around Decatur Reef, and across the south end of
Bainbridge Island. We entered a "slow speed" section as we passed
close by the fish pens just beyond red buoy "4" at the south
entrance to Rich Passage. We continued through the passage itself, and
then north up the Port Orchard Waterway to Battle Point. We then turned
west to the Brownsville Marina breakwater and followed the western
shoreline south as far as the gazebo near the entrance to the Port
Washington Narrows. The route continued back through Rich Passage to
the entrance to the Blake Island channel, then turned north again to
terminate off of Blakely Rock. Three legs of the race were "timed
runs"; requiring "Klettitat" to proceed from the previous
waypoint to a location exactly X yards away on a specific compass
heading. Predicted log racers calculate just how many yards per second
their boat will travel, and during a timed run racers are allowed to
operate a stopwatch. The official mileage of the course was 27.2 nm,
and required just under 3 hours to complete at the officially predicted
speed of 10.2 kts, (7 kts for the "slow" leg).
We were all so busy that the three hours seemed to pass very quickly.
Ken was steering the boat, Marvin was spotting the waypoints and
calling time, Bob was estimating wind and current speeds and advising
Ken accordingly, and I was punching the "print button" on the
calculator and scrambling to write everything down correctly.


Scoring the event

I observed the time of day at 30 separate waypoints along the course,
but the actual scores for the race were calculated by comparing the
observed and predicted times for six official "checkpoints." When
the race was finished, Marvin, Ken, Bob, and I filled in the score
sheet.

Ken and Marvin had predicted that the first leg would be run in 33
minutes and 54 seconds. Actual time observed was 35:14, or 80 seconds
"slow" due to unexpectedly stronger current coming out of Rich
Passage. The second leg was predicted at 35 minutes and 34 seconds,
but was completed 31 seconds sooner at 35:03. In predicted log racing,
fast legs don't offset slow legs- both deviations add to the
cumulative "error". We were slow on the third leg, only 9 seconds
slow on the fourth leg, slow on the fifth leg and fast on the final leg
of the race. Despite unpredictable gusts of wind and some concern
expressed during the race that the amount of current actually observed
didn't seem to be in complete agreement with the official predictions
for the day, "Klettitat" completed the course in a manner that most
of use would consider amazingly accurate. Marvin and Ken had predicted
that the race would take 10202 seconds to complete, and the actual time
was 10385. A handicap factor, used when the race is held in salt water
and is based on the class, or speed, of the boat is then applied to the
actual error. In Ken and Marvin's case their final score was
slightly over 2%. Most of us would be proud to run our boats for 27
nautical miles while maintaining nearly 98% accuracy in course and
speed, but Ken was disappointed in their score and fretted that with an
error of just over 2% they would not be among the top finishers for the
afternoon.

And the winner was...

Queen City Yacht Club member Dick Timmerman, with his wife Sylvia
serving as navigator, took first place overall in the event with an
incredible score of 0.6025%! QCYC Member Lynn Montgomery and his
Navigator Larry Chmela took second with another outstanding score of
0.8949% with Bill Grady and Todd Prodzinski taking third with a fine
1.0665% score. The QCYC racing team took the club trophy, but from
this observer's perspective it seemed like nearly everybody in the
room was a "winner". There were bottles of wine awarded for the
best times recorded in individual legs. Skippers who took 1st, 2nd, or
3rd in their respective speed classes received hats and plaques. (Ken
and Marvin got a plaque and a hat for their efforts). Every boat and
crew that participated and all of the observers, ("honored guests",
according to the IPBA) enjoyed an evening and an awards ceremony that
reminded everybody of just what the yacht club and predicted log racing
experiences are supposed to be about. The happy camaraderie of a steak
fry, a wash tub filled with ice and chilled libations, the enthusiastic
conversations recounting the experiences of the day and the good
natured jokes passing among racers comparing individual performances
assured that nobody "lost" the time spent that day. Not that
boaters need much of an excuse to party, but as the lapel buttons worn
by several of the racers confirmed, "Predicted Log Racing is a Social
Event!" It is, indeed.

Around 4/12/2006 8:43 AM, wrote:

The IPBA assigns an independent observer to each
boat during the contest to record the elapsed times for each leg of the
course and to ensure that participants are not relying on forbidden
technology, (or even a simple wrist watch), during the competition.

At some point, one of the previous owners of Commando must have "helped
his odds" at log racing; next to the console is a hidden compartment
with a space carved out that looks like some forbidden technology would
fit very nicely indeed...



--
~/Garth - 1966 Glastron V-142 Skiflite: "Blue-Boat"
"There is nothing - absolutely nothing - half so much worth doing
as simply messing about in boats." -- Kenneth Grahame
~~ Ventis secundis, tene cursum ~~