Head Race Timing

Vet Fours Head 2015

Weeks of preparation and now it's over. We made small refinements to our method this year, mostly successful.

Close Finishes

With manual timing, when you get two close finishers, you need to record two times as close together as you can manage. It's an interesting question how close you can get them.

Reaction Times

For Head races using manual timing (with stopwatch, tablet or timing device) we rely on our reaction times to get accurate times for each crew. Here are a few sites to test your reaction times:

Results Distribution

The Pairs Head is an interesting race to time, with a lot of starters over a fairly short course. The shorter course means that crews are closer together in times.

Pairs Head 2015

I was a volunteer timer on the Start at the Pairs Head on Saturday 10 Oct. The Chief Timekeeper is Sarah Powell, also in charge of entries, and also racing on the day, so quite an achievement on her part.

Spreadsheet

This year I have worked on making it easier to turn the times we get from the Timy timing system into results we can publish on the web. Like a lot of timing, it is conceptually easy but hard to get right in practice.

New Numbers

We are in the process of buying new numbers. We have had ours for years, but they are too small and, as a result, difficult to read from a distance. They are even too small to see in the video replay.

I asked around for what people use:

• Ours are about 140mm high, and varying widths
• HoRR and Vesta Vets Head are 295x210mm, a full A4 size
• Schools Head are 240x190mm
• Quintin Head are 200x150mm.

There's also the question of material. I am not a plastics engineer so, if anyone reading this is and it's not correct, please get in touch.

As far as I can see, there are three main types of plastic that float. The one that's been recommended is High Impact Polystyrene.

We think that if the number is too large, and if the plastic is brittle, it may be easy to break. I have seen a few races where quite a lot of numbers were broken. On the other hand, if it is hit that hard, maybe it would fall out if it didn't break.

We have also decided to go with black numbers on a yellow background. I found last year in poor visibility at the HoRR that this was much more visible at a distance than black on white. I think the reason is that the yellow background stands out more from the background clutter. We will see this year if the theory is correct!

Small Improvements

My main race, the Veteran Fours Head, is coming up fast and now only six weeks away. We started preparing at the first committee meeting in June.

We are going for a Start at 1:45 p.m. It should be sufficiently past the turn of the tide, and still with enough light at the end.

Last year we had rain and poor visibility, so this year we have made some small improvements to make the timing easier.

We have bought these covers for the timing devices: Manfrotto Element Cover. They might look a bit dorky, but they are made for the job. They allow two hands for the kit, and an exit for the two cables. In previous years we have used a plastic bag, but it mists up. Mostly in previous years it hasn't rained, but it did rain for the Vet Fours Head last year, and the Quintin Head, and the main Head.

We have also bought a pair of proper marine binoculars. In previous years we have used the typical sort of compact binoculars. These have great magnification but a very narrow field of view, and they are quite dark. In poor light it is difficult to pick up the approaching crew and read the number fast enough. I tried last year at the main Head, in a windy drizzle, and it really was not possible.

Marine binoculars are designed for this, so we have bought a pair of Steiner Navigator Pro 7x50 binoculars. Looking out over the river the difference is extraordinary.

Spotting is a really important role in our timing. The line straight across at the finish is about 80 metres, so you can usually make out the numbers as they cross. But for timing you need to be able to get the number about 250 metres out, so that the sequencer can make a note of approaching crews. Then as they come up to the line the sequencer can make a note of the actual order, and give it to the timer. At the same time they are making a note of new crews approaching. If they only wrote down crews as they crossed they would miss new crews as they communicate with the timer.

Spotting is a skillful job. If you call out numbers too far out, they may well have changed order. If you call them out more than once, the sequencer needs to work out if they already have that one or not. If the crew does not have a bow number, and you can't make out the number of the back of Bow, then you need to come up with an identification really quickly. It helps if you recognise crews by their blades, but if not it needs to be something that's quick to write down. The sequencer does not have time to have a chat. You also can't spend time identifying them after the crew has crossed, because you need to catch the new crews approaching. Like everything, its easy most of the time with one or two crews well spaced out, but much more difficult when a pack or a stream of boats comes though. Its getting the difficult ones right that makes the difference.

We also decided to buy a marker for the far side of the finish. To get times accurate to one or two tenths it is important to know where the line is. You can't have people using a slightly different line. At the start it's easy (or was!) with the Boat Race post, but there is no equivalent at Putney.

At Putney, the University Stone marks the line of the Boat Race course on the Surrey side, with a yellow line painted on the wall opposite. We finish at Putney Pier. I have estimated this is about 11 railing posts upstream of the yellow line. In my first year we used an old ceiling tile suspended from the railings to mark it. In some years we have just tied a plastic bag to the railings.

This year we have bought a 1'x10' yellow mesh banner to hang from the railings, so it will be similar to the painted yellow line.

I never did retrieve my extension ladders used to mark the line of sight on the timers' side, so we are still looking for a solution for that.

Preparation for Pairs Head

It's the start of a new season, with the Pairs Head coming up on Saturday 10th Oct. The Chief Timekeeper is Sarah Powell.

As last year, the race runs from Chiswick Bridge to Harrods Wall. Before that it used to run to just before Hammersmith Bridge, but it is very difficult to get a view of the approaching crews from there.

There is no public access to Harrods Wall itself, so the Finish timing team will be on King Henry’s Reach Pier on the opposite bank.

The timing team will be using the Webscorer timing app. I am a volunteer timer, and looking forward to it.

Head of the River 2015

This was a really difficult race to time at the Finish. I was on the Finish boat MV Interceptor. It was raining and gusty most of the day. We could not use binoculars through the glass, and if we tried to look through the open forward port the rain was driving in so you couldn't see there either. In the end we had to use the naked eye to spot the bow numbers.

The bow numbers only became readable quite late. You could not make out many of the paper numbers on the bowman because they were blown sideways in the wind. A lot of crews also came down without bow numbers.

So we spotted the bow numbers just as they came past Putney Pier, leaving very little time for the timers to enter the number against the time. They did a great job in the circumstances.

One question about visibility was answered. Some of the crews had a paper number of black on yellow. This was much more readable than the normal black on white.