I came up with a good way to visualize boat speed data in Google Earth for Pete today. I was looking through the speed data from the first leg of the RBI, and noted that at one point Pete hit 18 knots. I thought that there must be some cool way to convey that info visually to people following the track.
I recalled something a saw where a pilot loaded is flight waypoints into GE, and used the altitude data to make a "3D fence" of his flight. I thought that something similar might work for sailboat racing, if I extended the numbers out enough.
So I multiplied Pete's speed by 1000, called that "altitude" and extruded the track line, switching colors to indicate speeds as well. The result is on the screen shot above. Pretty obvious where he lost wind for a bit...
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This is a screen shot from the SailBlogs feed from the Round Britain & Ireland Race, and the SailBlogs-sponsored Playing For Success skippered by Pete Goss. Positions are coming in every 30 minutes while racing (they're currently on the 48 hr. layover between legs).
At this point, it looks like Pete and Paul are thus far the only boat to make Kinsale and complete the first leg.
Please visit www.petegoss.com for more race info.
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killing a couple of hours. I probably have some work I could be doing, but I'm tired and a bit burned out. It's been a big week.
I got my sailboat in last monday. And I only had to threaten to myself that I was going to sell it once. And it wasn't really the boats fault. I was just feeling a bit stressed from a big weekend. I spent a lot of the day on saturday getting my lift in, fixing the shore line where it had eroded where the dock goes, and then working on the powerboat. it wasn't running right. It was 4pm by the time all that was done, and I was exhausted.
Sunday was too windy and we had some other tasks as well, though I did get it washed and rigged a bit. Monday, then was somewhat rushed, as we'd planned to head home by midday. I don't like needing assistance to get the boat in and sailing, but I do. And because I'm really the only one who really enjoys the boat, help comes somewhat reluctantly. My father in law said "sailing is ok for the person running the boat, since they have something to do. But the rest of us just sit there like bumps." I wondered to myself how that was different in the powerboat. I suppose you could be on the tube, or watching the people on the tube, but whatever.
E went with me after getting it launched for a short sail from the launch to the dock. We had a bit of trouble on our dock approach because we ran aground, but we managed to get off, go around and land. I went out again for another hour alone.
I landed better, got everything stowed and the boat lifted and left it. It might be the 4th of July before I'm back again.
I checked my email before we headed home, and I had a note from my friend Al that Pete was a last-minute entry into the Round The Island race. Al is the comms guy for Pete Goss. In supporting Pete's charity and his entry in the Round Britain and Ireland Race, I set up the blog and map tracking for Pete's site. Al wanted to know if I could get a map going for the Round the Island race which is tomorrow.
This is why i'm killing time - I want to make sure stuff is working when the RTI race starts in a couple of hours.
Let me back up - the Round Britain and Ireland race starts June 11. Thats a big, multi-day event that is a fairly grueling race for a two-handed team.
This weekend's race - the Round the Island race - is one of the biggest races in Europe with over 1600 boats participating. This is a one day event around the Isle of Wight starting at Cowes. So while I had everything in place for the June 11 race, it was a bit of a scramble to get the Isle of Wight map tracking up and running in just a few days.
Follow Pete here: http://www.petegoss.com
And check the main site for updates on all the teams: http://www.roundtheisland.org.uk
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May 1st, 2006
I just wanted to say thanks to Noel and Christy, the hosts and producers of the Furled Sails podcast ( http://www.furledsails.com/ ) for reading a blurb I sent them about the SailBlogs site.
I have been involved in the creation of a number of podcasts, and believe me to do them well is no easy feat. I think they are doing a great job, they are easy to listen to and have great interviews and information. I've been having fun going back and listening to their previous shows. One of the benefits of coming on board late is that i can listen to one show a day for the next couple of months to get caught up.
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further tests with video and the newton slideshow...
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Boat is out. Seems like it was a short season again. Oh well. I went up Saturday am with my father-in-law, and we basically had the day to get both boats out, as well as get the toys put away. It was cloudy, and sometimes raining, with a stiff breeze right from the south. It would have been a worth while sailing day, except the boat launch was due south of where the boat was, so it would have taken a bit of work and too much time to actually sail down there.
In the end we just hooked a tow rope to it and pulled it down there in about 10 minutes.
This all just illustrates why having a boat on a remote lake is hard. I suppose in some ways having a boat in someplace far away, like the Caribbean, is equally difficult. My boat was only in the water for like 10 weekends. And of those ten, maybe 6 of them we actually go up to the farm and lake, and we always lose a couple of those to weather.
I like living in the city. But I could also like living in the country (or near a lake). I use to wish the same thing when I'd use my telescope. I would long for the ability to have a place worthy of a little observatory shed, where I could, when the weather was nice, just go out, roll off the roof, and observe for an hour or two without the need for all the set up. I would do it at the farm, but in the city it's not worth it.
Well, there is still time to sail. Next year.
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I've been thinking a lot about sailing, but not doing a whole lot. I was hoping to get out last weekend, but it was raining one day, and I was pressed into service as a driver of the ski boat the next.
Oh well, I like to think that someday I'll be able to sail everyday if I choose.
in fact, I was seriously comtimplating naming my cruiser "Someday", should it ever come...
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