Jumping the starter.
Posted: Thu Jun 09, 2022 8:59 am
So at Div 1 and Prem we have an electronic beam start. It's accurate and just about impossible to get any gain on.
I have seen paddlers throw their paddles forward, wave the blade, lean back on the start beam and lean forward on the finish.
But there are probably no gains. It accurate.
Then at Div 2 and 3 we have a starter and finisher pressing a button.
Get a group together with Stop watches and do some test. You will find the human error is about plus or minus 0.2 seconds.
So that could be +2 on the start and finish. Total +0.4 sec
Or it could be -2 on the start and finish. Total -0.4 sec
So a possible difference of 0.8 on the same timed run.
For an example, at Bala Mill in the Div 2 Men.
Sat, 5th place was 87.50 and 9th 88.20. Thats 5 boats in 0.7 seconds.
Sun, 8th place was 79.90 and 11th 80.40. Thats 4 boats in 0.50 seconds.
Llandysul. K1 L
Sat. 4th place 121.4 and 9th 122.00. Thats 4 boats over 0.6 seconds
Sun. 2nd place 119.70 and 4th place 120.20. Thats 3 boats one 0.50 seconds.
If you look at other Div 2 races, it's clear. Times are close, Racing is fast and the standard high. So lots of paddlers are getting the same times.
This is actually good, racing is close, people are sharing points and pushing each other on, but could we make it more accurate.
Without a defined Start line and finish line the discrepancy's could be even higher.
A different Starter and finisher for second runs could be slower/faster or looking at a different start line.
At Bala Mill there was 2 or 3 different lines to gate 1.
As a paddle you need to make the decision which was the quickest.
For me it was sit close to the start line you think the starter is looking at, when they say 5 just go, if they are not quite ready the gain could be more than the 0.2 second human error.
So going forward it would be good to look at a beam start/finish at some events.
At sites like Symonds Yat this would be hard and is probably the reason we don't run a Div 1 event.
So as a minimum it would be nice if organisers could use a start and finish gate to increase the accuracy.
It just need 2 poles, so the starter/finisher and competitor have something to aim for.
We must understand that Div 2/3 paddlers also train hard for events and the cost of attending events is high.
So they deserve an accurate timing system.
I have seen paddlers throw their paddles forward, wave the blade, lean back on the start beam and lean forward on the finish.
But there are probably no gains. It accurate.
Then at Div 2 and 3 we have a starter and finisher pressing a button.
Get a group together with Stop watches and do some test. You will find the human error is about plus or minus 0.2 seconds.
So that could be +2 on the start and finish. Total +0.4 sec
Or it could be -2 on the start and finish. Total -0.4 sec
So a possible difference of 0.8 on the same timed run.
For an example, at Bala Mill in the Div 2 Men.
Sat, 5th place was 87.50 and 9th 88.20. Thats 5 boats in 0.7 seconds.
Sun, 8th place was 79.90 and 11th 80.40. Thats 4 boats in 0.50 seconds.
Llandysul. K1 L
Sat. 4th place 121.4 and 9th 122.00. Thats 4 boats over 0.6 seconds
Sun. 2nd place 119.70 and 4th place 120.20. Thats 3 boats one 0.50 seconds.
If you look at other Div 2 races, it's clear. Times are close, Racing is fast and the standard high. So lots of paddlers are getting the same times.
This is actually good, racing is close, people are sharing points and pushing each other on, but could we make it more accurate.
Without a defined Start line and finish line the discrepancy's could be even higher.
A different Starter and finisher for second runs could be slower/faster or looking at a different start line.
At Bala Mill there was 2 or 3 different lines to gate 1.
As a paddle you need to make the decision which was the quickest.
For me it was sit close to the start line you think the starter is looking at, when they say 5 just go, if they are not quite ready the gain could be more than the 0.2 second human error.
So going forward it would be good to look at a beam start/finish at some events.
At sites like Symonds Yat this would be hard and is probably the reason we don't run a Div 1 event.
So as a minimum it would be nice if organisers could use a start and finish gate to increase the accuracy.
It just need 2 poles, so the starter/finisher and competitor have something to aim for.
We must understand that Div 2/3 paddlers also train hard for events and the cost of attending events is high.
So they deserve an accurate timing system.