Post by Stephanie on Jul 20, 2015 10:32:20 GMT -8
WOW. That pretty much sums up my weekend. From the weather, the hustle, the general responsiveness of steers / teams, the overall efficiency of staff, and even some of the problems: wow.
Firstly, congrats again on our second tournament in a row, and the first LB Festival in at least 7 years (I didn't keep track before that), without any capsizes or collisions!! I know people complain about our constant testing, but I think this is direct proof that we, our steers, our teams, are doing something right in regards to safety! I heard of only three lane violations, and of those, two were minor. As for starts, most everyone was fantastic! (disclaimer, I didn't see any of the Sunday afternoon 200m) Steers were generally very responsive and considerate.
Some specific notes about starts:
- steers for the most part stayed close to the orange flag (at least three boats were too close, which is what ripped the flag off the pole!)
- for the most part, steers listened to starters' commands
- most steers turn ahead of other boats now (especially when we asked), but a lot of steers (including local steers) went way behind other boats before turning (even after we asked)
- when cutting across the course to the start line, please cross it entirely. I know there's room, but it makes me nervous when people cut between buoys and cages and I think it's unnecessarily risky.
- I really liked the tall can buoys (staging buoys) and the higher starting platform which made it much easier for Starters to see
- starts this year were very clean! only a few boats got ahead of the basket and I think all of them backed it down when we asked
- only one major incident at the start line - boat hit the cage too hard and when they backed away the head stayed hooked up on the cage. a Chase Boat was able to quickly fix the situation. (quick note - this was a Chinese team, so I'm assuming they didn't understand my commands)
- far fewer technical issues with the gates/pa system this year. the volume was low the first two races, but we corrected it for the third race. thank you to whomever told Marshaling, they texted that over and we were able to fix it quickly.
- I know Sunday afternoon 200m starts were difficult to hear. I don't know if they remedied that. I do know that they were trying to.
Some feedback from Marshaling:
- when turning back to shore, please turn wide. And when turning to the race course, please make it tight. Always keep traffic on your RIGHT. I heard there were a few almost head-on collisions at that corner!
- when backing away from the marshaling area, please do not go too far back 1. it's not necessary 2. there is cross-traffic (ours and public)
- if you have to switch people or talk to your team, whatever, after you load and before you start your races, please do it AFTER the turn. There are a lot of boats coming and going from the turn to the marshaling beach so please keep that area clear
Some problems:
- steers/callers - We just didn't have enough of them! I arranged for a few and they sometimes couldn't be found. Other teams just didn't request them in advance.
- Some of this can easily be helped by emailing me in ADVANCE, like, a week in advance (I had a team email me Friday afternoon for both a caller and a steer. He then didn't return my email when I asked for heat numbers. I'm sorry, but I'm BUSY; I place steers / callers for over 20 teams and I have a lot of other work to do on top of that. I need you to be specific when emailing so please give me heat numbers in addition to team name and divisions. I check the numbers you give me, but I will not look them up for you. I also ask for heat numbers so I know you can read the race grid correctly.
- If you need someone and didn't email me, don't show up only when you're marshaled and then frantically demand someone help you. Try to arrange for help in advance. Everyone appreciates your forethought.
- If you're a steer or caller and are periodically bored, volunteer for us! We CONSISTENTLY need steers in the mix III / IV divisions. Tell marshaling you're available for a bit, sit in the tent and relax until you're needed. Even if you only have a 20 minute window, we'd love you to have you on hand just in case.
One other big thing is that we don't have a good way to send out info quickly to everyone. I tried to tweet asap every time a big official decision was made (working through Saturday lunch, rain delay, race postponement, new Sunday start time, a go on the Sunday afternoon 200m) but I also forgot to tweet a couple things (starting Sunday races even earlier than announced). And how can we expect people to check the Twitter when we already said we weren't going to use it any more? It makes no sense.
A small but real annoyance is paddlers' wristbands. 1. I don't understand why we have them. Very few teams cheat, and even if they did, I don't think a paddler or two is going to really affect race placement. 2. It take too long to check them 3. I wish teams would stop asking me about them. I don't know anything about them. And if you had been paying attention at the captains' meeting you would know where to get them. Oh well, that's just a small rant from me.
Overall I think everything went very well. The storm threw a big wrench into the weekend, but I think we dealt with it very nicely! Canceling Saturday lunch to try and get ahead of the storm was incredibly smart (thanks Mike!). Next year, regardless of weather, hopefully the opening ceremony can be shortened too. Starting is getting better, easier, faster every year. Chase boats coordinated with each other very well (and Starters loved getting picked up for our races rather than having to run back and forth). Judges were generally responsive on the walkies. The officials' google hangout worked great.
I think the area we can use the most improvement is marshaling. And I think that's going to be really hard because we have so many boats and the marshaling beach is just too small. I'd love to hear some suggestions on how to make this area run more efficiently. I liked the different colored balloons on the tents though I don't know how many people used them. The PA system was also great.
In closing, I think it's safe to say that this was a pretty good Festival; even the massive storm couldn't stop us. Huge thank you to all the teams, staff, and support!
Firstly, congrats again on our second tournament in a row, and the first LB Festival in at least 7 years (I didn't keep track before that), without any capsizes or collisions!! I know people complain about our constant testing, but I think this is direct proof that we, our steers, our teams, are doing something right in regards to safety! I heard of only three lane violations, and of those, two were minor. As for starts, most everyone was fantastic! (disclaimer, I didn't see any of the Sunday afternoon 200m) Steers were generally very responsive and considerate.
Some specific notes about starts:
- steers for the most part stayed close to the orange flag (at least three boats were too close, which is what ripped the flag off the pole!)
- for the most part, steers listened to starters' commands
- most steers turn ahead of other boats now (especially when we asked), but a lot of steers (including local steers) went way behind other boats before turning (even after we asked)
- when cutting across the course to the start line, please cross it entirely. I know there's room, but it makes me nervous when people cut between buoys and cages and I think it's unnecessarily risky.
- I really liked the tall can buoys (staging buoys) and the higher starting platform which made it much easier for Starters to see
- starts this year were very clean! only a few boats got ahead of the basket and I think all of them backed it down when we asked
- only one major incident at the start line - boat hit the cage too hard and when they backed away the head stayed hooked up on the cage. a Chase Boat was able to quickly fix the situation. (quick note - this was a Chinese team, so I'm assuming they didn't understand my commands)
- far fewer technical issues with the gates/pa system this year. the volume was low the first two races, but we corrected it for the third race. thank you to whomever told Marshaling, they texted that over and we were able to fix it quickly.
- I know Sunday afternoon 200m starts were difficult to hear. I don't know if they remedied that. I do know that they were trying to.
Some feedback from Marshaling:
- when turning back to shore, please turn wide. And when turning to the race course, please make it tight. Always keep traffic on your RIGHT. I heard there were a few almost head-on collisions at that corner!
- when backing away from the marshaling area, please do not go too far back 1. it's not necessary 2. there is cross-traffic (ours and public)
- if you have to switch people or talk to your team, whatever, after you load and before you start your races, please do it AFTER the turn. There are a lot of boats coming and going from the turn to the marshaling beach so please keep that area clear
Some problems:
- steers/callers - We just didn't have enough of them! I arranged for a few and they sometimes couldn't be found. Other teams just didn't request them in advance.
- Some of this can easily be helped by emailing me in ADVANCE, like, a week in advance (I had a team email me Friday afternoon for both a caller and a steer. He then didn't return my email when I asked for heat numbers. I'm sorry, but I'm BUSY; I place steers / callers for over 20 teams and I have a lot of other work to do on top of that. I need you to be specific when emailing so please give me heat numbers in addition to team name and divisions. I check the numbers you give me, but I will not look them up for you. I also ask for heat numbers so I know you can read the race grid correctly.
- If you need someone and didn't email me, don't show up only when you're marshaled and then frantically demand someone help you. Try to arrange for help in advance. Everyone appreciates your forethought.
- If you're a steer or caller and are periodically bored, volunteer for us! We CONSISTENTLY need steers in the mix III / IV divisions. Tell marshaling you're available for a bit, sit in the tent and relax until you're needed. Even if you only have a 20 minute window, we'd love you to have you on hand just in case.
One other big thing is that we don't have a good way to send out info quickly to everyone. I tried to tweet asap every time a big official decision was made (working through Saturday lunch, rain delay, race postponement, new Sunday start time, a go on the Sunday afternoon 200m) but I also forgot to tweet a couple things (starting Sunday races even earlier than announced). And how can we expect people to check the Twitter when we already said we weren't going to use it any more? It makes no sense.
A small but real annoyance is paddlers' wristbands. 1. I don't understand why we have them. Very few teams cheat, and even if they did, I don't think a paddler or two is going to really affect race placement. 2. It take too long to check them 3. I wish teams would stop asking me about them. I don't know anything about them. And if you had been paying attention at the captains' meeting you would know where to get them. Oh well, that's just a small rant from me.
Overall I think everything went very well. The storm threw a big wrench into the weekend, but I think we dealt with it very nicely! Canceling Saturday lunch to try and get ahead of the storm was incredibly smart (thanks Mike!). Next year, regardless of weather, hopefully the opening ceremony can be shortened too. Starting is getting better, easier, faster every year. Chase boats coordinated with each other very well (and Starters loved getting picked up for our races rather than having to run back and forth). Judges were generally responsive on the walkies. The officials' google hangout worked great.
I think the area we can use the most improvement is marshaling. And I think that's going to be really hard because we have so many boats and the marshaling beach is just too small. I'd love to hear some suggestions on how to make this area run more efficiently. I liked the different colored balloons on the tents though I don't know how many people used them. The PA system was also great.
In closing, I think it's safe to say that this was a pretty good Festival; even the massive storm couldn't stop us. Huge thank you to all the teams, staff, and support!
Love those things.