Timing a medium-sized head race or time trial

[NK Amy]

You can use the Interval to time medium-sized head races or time trial pieces. You will, however, need more than one stop watch.

Here's how to set it up…
You need to have a timer at both the start and finish lines. Synchronize the start and finish watches by starting them at the same time. This can be done pretty easily with a cell phone or two-way radio.

As each boat crosses the starting line, take a split with the starting watch, and make note of the competitor name or number. Repeat this as each subsequent boat crosses the starting line.

Follow the same scheme at the finish line with the finish watch, taking a split and noting the bow number for each boat. Recording finish order is very important at the finish line, as boats may have passed one another
throughout the course.

If you need to time another event, you have several options:
• Continuous - simply leave the watch running and keep sending boats across the starting line. In this instance, the no results can be determined until the final boat finishes the race.

• Start a new watch segment - create a new segment in your watch, and begin timing the next event as explained before. (You will need to have watches that can store times in multiple segments or events.) You
will need to re-synchronize the start and finish watches, requiring you to wait until the previous event is complete.

• Log and clear - schedule a break in between events and write down or upload the times. The watches can then be cleared and timing may resume. Results can be posted as soon as the start and finish times are
compiled. However, you will need to re-synchronize the watches in this case also, again requiring you to wait until the previous event is complete.

With times and notes retrieved, recall the times and apply them to the respective boats. The rest is simple mathematics - subtract the starting line time from the finish line time. To speed up obtaining results and to
further ensure their accuracy, use tools such as spreadsheets and watches with upload capabilities.