Race officer John Smalley – “Goes without saying your amazing Bots have gained many admirers and you can count me as one.”
The Dartmouth Royal Regatta 2023 was the 178th running of the regatta, one of the longest running in the world. Proving that age is just a number, this year’s regatta has had a technology overhaul, with daily video and still images being beamed ashore from the 3 race courses out in Start Bay and continuing this technological theme the race committee provided the Outer Course with MarkSetBot robotic race marks. 7 were used to set a windward leeward course ( short windward and long windward marks, with offsets ). The outer distance mark doubled up as the finish mark, motoring in to position after all the starts had been completed.
Charles Darbyshire – FourthCape – MarkSetBot UK “ We arrived early on the day before racing was due to start and set up on the slipway next to the club. By lunch time we were ready and had the afternoon to look around the pretty town of Dartmouth. Racing on Thursday was cancelled early due to a lack of wind, but the Bots were out on the course just in case any racing was possible. By Friday, the wind had returned and 3 races for 5 classes were completed on the outer course. We chose to move the outer distance mark to become a finish line, and the committee boat was amazed and amused to see it motor itself into position for the finish line – only to return to it’s Pin position before the start of the next batch of races. Race Officer John Smalley was delighted to point his range finder at the mark to find it on the exact bearing and range that he had asked for a few minutes earlier’. On Saturday, the Bots served as rounding marks on a ‘round the bay’ race. The visibility at distance was appreciated by competitors as they navigated a series of marks in the mostly sunny Start Bay. Sunday saw a return to windward/leeward racing, with two races each with 5 starts held. The bots were ’sent’ in at the end of racing and returned to the slip way for packing. In a couple of hours, the bots were hosed down and packed away in our FourthCape mid sized van ( 8 bots in total ) and we were able to enjoy the prize giving, where unusually the Bots were award their own special award, and further praise was given.
Each bot had a sponsor cover in an assortment of colours and this added to the spectacle of the event, and an important activation for each of the 5 main sponsors – Salcombe Gin, Raymarine, Ancasta Yacht Sales, Twisted Marine and Henri Lloyd.
We didn’t reach for the tool box once, just a simple hook up to the battery chargers each afternoon, and unplug after dinner, was all the maintenance we did. We towed out each day due to a confined and busy water way into start bay, but there after the Bots found their positions without a fault. We were happy with the battery capacity, returning to shore each long day with over 40% battery remaining.
We can’t comment on the great technical support that we would have no doubt received from MSB team who were standing by in USA, because we didn’t call on them !
Dartmouth Regatta and the sailing week as a whole is an absolute gem, run by an enthusiastic and skilled group of volunteers, it was a absolute pleasure to be involved.
Next year’s Regatta dates are Wed 28th – Sat 31st August
