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We did the lemans start for a long time with Offshore classes. Those are similar to the Euro races. 4 minutes, most laps wins.
We were actually standing on shore and throwing the boats in at the buzzer. Absolute riot. Carnage ensued. Boats were thrown in upside down. I had one launched like a lawn jart into the mud. We still laugh about that. It was a ton of fun but the boats took a beating.
So then we tried floating the boats with your pit man holding it in place. All of them pointing the right way. No bad tosses where a boat lands pointed at it's neighbor. Buzzer sounds......drag race to the first pin. Also a hoot but same problem. All you can see is roosters. Not everyone made the first turn. Picture a whole heat of boats trying to make that turn with no time to sort into lanes in crap water without really being able to see your boat. Pile of laughs but guys got frustrated with not actually getting to race. .......aaaaand I'm over! Who took me out? Couldn't tell.
So then we tried having all the boats in the water just floating in the front straight waiting for the buzzer. As long as you were up stream of the start line before the buzzer you were legal. This was closer to okay but we still had guys pinching into that first turn. A large heat was a disaster. Picture maybe 7 boats having to make a turn 7 lanes wide with the exact same arc or............more carnage. We're supposed to all be able to do that but it's easier said than done.
The boats have evolved (I think) to where they were too fast and too expensive to do it. Finally we gave up on it entirely and went to what we called then a figure 9 start. Basically you went straight across the course, made you're turn on the right end, and hit the line wide open. Once LiPo were perfected we were able to do the full lap mill. Seems the best approach so far.
Even with the full mill we still manage to screw it up. haha We're early, late, not quite going straight, going much faster than our skill. None of us are professionals. Just hobbyists.
We were actually standing on shore and throwing the boats in at the buzzer. Absolute riot. Carnage ensued. Boats were thrown in upside down. I had one launched like a lawn jart into the mud. We still laugh about that. It was a ton of fun but the boats took a beating.
So then we tried floating the boats with your pit man holding it in place. All of them pointing the right way. No bad tosses where a boat lands pointed at it's neighbor. Buzzer sounds......drag race to the first pin. Also a hoot but same problem. All you can see is roosters. Not everyone made the first turn. Picture a whole heat of boats trying to make that turn with no time to sort into lanes in crap water without really being able to see your boat. Pile of laughs but guys got frustrated with not actually getting to race. .......aaaaand I'm over! Who took me out? Couldn't tell.
So then we tried having all the boats in the water just floating in the front straight waiting for the buzzer. As long as you were up stream of the start line before the buzzer you were legal. This was closer to okay but we still had guys pinching into that first turn. A large heat was a disaster. Picture maybe 7 boats having to make a turn 7 lanes wide with the exact same arc or............more carnage. We're supposed to all be able to do that but it's easier said than done.
The boats have evolved (I think) to where they were too fast and too expensive to do it. Finally we gave up on it entirely and went to what we called then a figure 9 start. Basically you went straight across the course, made you're turn on the right end, and hit the line wide open. Once LiPo were perfected we were able to do the full lap mill. Seems the best approach so far.
Even with the full mill we still manage to screw it up. haha We're early, late, not quite going straight, going much faster than our skill. None of us are professionals. Just hobbyists.
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