" Can we send a "Good Luck" message to the sailors? And if so, HOW? "Web Editor's response is:
" A few of the sailors have a very slow internet connections for sending off-line prepared email, and receiving a few words. Their messages, as you can see from the "News" are very brief.
When I acknowledge Mike Jefferson's position report by email I only use the "subject" line and a salutation.
Mike maintains the communications - so when at about 23:00 PDT tonight I acknowledge his transmission; I'll send a "Good Luck" to the sailors from you with your email address to him.
He attempts to communicate with all the sailors twice a day via VHF and SSB. See the position reports. He emails them to me laboriously.
Otherwise following their progress and thinking of them will help. They are being tried.
Thank you "
" This race does not require racers to furnish position reports to the the race committee. Racers who want their positions posted to the website are doing so either through the communication boat, Foxx Fyre or emails.It is very common for equipment failures or bad reception to prevent communication. Generating power on board is one of the more difficult tasks. The first use of the power for a single handed racer is for their navigation systems and autopilots. The means of communicating serious life threatening problems is to engage the EPRIB, which automatically sends the boat's position via satellite to the Coast Guard.
We are in land line communication with them. Race rules require each boat to hail the race committee on VHF radio. this is usually when they are 20 miles from the finish line. Or if they are not transmitting, we look for the white flare when they reach the GPS waypoint. Race committee does maintain a 24 hour visual and VHF watch.
Hope you enjoy our website,
Jean Novotny , co-chair "
" I don't like reading long lines of text on the screen. Can this be improved? "Web Editor's response is:
In fact we simply provide the paragraph breaks for most of the text. If you reduce the size of the browser window and reload the screen, you can have the sentences wrapped at a more reasonable point.
" I don't like the font of the text. How can this be improved? "Web Editor's response is:
We have intentionally not specified fonts throughout this section of this page.
Please use your browser options to specify you favorite font and size for viewing.
" How can I pick out where a boat is in the charts?. "Web Editor's response is:
We recommend picking out the position co-ordinates from the appropriate position report and using those co-ordinates to find the approximate position in the corresponding rectangle in the chart. For example Color Blind is at N33:08 Latitude and W132:O8 Longitude. Color Blind is in Divison II and is marked with a red line and red stars. In the rectagle bounded by 35 degrees North and 30 degrees North on the left margin, and 135 degrees West Longitude and 130 degrees West Longitude on the bottom margin we should see the Color Blind's red star a little left of the center.
Clicking on this chart will provide a slight enlargement.