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For almost all my races, my father-in-law has been my ground crew and he has done a heckuva job. For the MR340, my father will be coming into town and taking over that role. Below are some notes from one to the other on how he supports. Oh, and the previous post about the broken rudder was actually about my father-in-law, JoshS, and I during the Shootout. A good ground crew should not be taken lightly.
...During the last race, I took down some notes on what I do to anticipate what to do when. So the notes below are from that race. Probably seems more like a stream of consciousness than organized thoughts, but here it is anyway.
Race Support In getting ready for the race I print out the directions between the check points and review them with a map (usually on line) so I understand in general where I will be going. I want to put into my mind which sides of the river the checkpoints are on. I check this with the pace chart to make sure I have the right one. I take a paper roadmap with me as a back-up, in case my I-Pad goes down. My I-Pad has the race map links in it. Most importantly, I have the Spot Tracker link in my I-Pad, so I can access it whenever needed. As FlyinLow is getting ready at the launch site he tells me where he might stop, and I mark that on my pace chart. I ask him what pace he thinks he can do at the beginning and write it on the pace chart. I go to the safety briefing to get the cell numbers of the safety boat(s). If they have a ground crew support map directions, I pick that up too. FlyinLow tells me where stuff is in the truck that he might send me after when he lands at a check-point. I know where the first aid kit is. The most important tracking tool for me is his Spot Tracker, so before I leave him, I check that he has turned it on. I check that I have the keys to the truck before he departs. I take pictures at the start, as that is the only time I seem to have the time to take pictures. I focus on what kind of a hat and outfit he is wearing so I can spot him easily on the river through my binoculars. I can see him and his hat much earlier than I can make out his boat color and number. Once he is underway, and before I do anything else I take the pace chart and with pen and paper I figure out the earliest and latest times that he can get to the first check point. I use the pace he has given me, then compute his arrival for 1 mph faster, and again for 1 mph slower. This gives me the window that I know I must be at the first check point. I back off another 15 minutes just to get parked, out of the truck, and down to the water and I have the latest time that I can arrive at the first check point. I compute my route to the first check point on my I-Pad, and I use that as my primary way to get to the check point. My secondary is to follow someone else. My third is to use the printed route I got of the web, or from the race organizers. After I get to the check point (or on the way if I have the time), I check the spot tracker to see how he is doing. I check the arrival window I computed to make sure it still looks good. As soon as FlyinLow, per the spot tracker, is 2 reporting points (20 minutes) away from where I am at the check point, I quit using the I-Pad, get my binoculars out and keeping watching out for him up river. When he arrives at the first check point. I normally don't have to do anything else but wave, and shout encouragement, so I can do other stuff such as: 1) write down his arrival time, 2) notice what types, colors of boats are ahead and behind, so I can look for them at the next check point, ask to see of the support crews who is going to the next check point, so I can follow them if I choose. Then I sit down, at a table if they have any at the check point, or in the car, if not, and I use FlyinLow's arrival time to compute an actual pace to the first check point. Now I have something more accurate than his estimate to work with, and as before, I use a paper and pen to compute his likely arrival window at the next check point, just as I did at the start. Somewhere along the way he will need at least water, perhaps grub. When he is two spot tracker updates upstream of the ramp, I get the water and grub out of the truck and put it at the top of the ramp, or close to it, at some place where I can still watch up river through binoculars. (No need to put it on the ramp next to the water as it just gets crowded there.) As FlyinLow approaches, I try to find a spot next to the water where we won't be conflicted by others, that doesn't have rocks to avoid, and perhaps has sand, rather than the concrete ramp. Regardless, he makes the final decision of where exactly to land, and its my job to be where he lands. My job is to hold the boat steady while he gets out and back in. When he is about to head out I ask him where he next plans to stop, so I can focus on that location. Clothing. I wear a big brimmed hat, as I sunburn easily. I still use lots of sunblock. I take binoculars, which I always use, and camera which I never seem to get around to. I wear water shoes, at least on the ramp, so I can wade in if required. My I-Pad navigates for me almost all of the time, and have a paper map as a back-up. I always carry a pocket knife just in case. On gravel roads, I drive carefully, as an unloaded pick-up truck has a tendency to bounce and slide...
Hope this helps some of the crews.
FlyinLow
"Don't think you're on the right road just because it’s a well-beaten path." ~Author Unknown
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Ground Crew Guidebooks (Read 88939 times)