I have helped with timing at three Heads this autumn: Pairs Head 14 Oct, Veteran Fours Head 11 Nov, and Scullers Head 2 Dec. We use different systems, but the thing that stands out in getting accurate results is the need for technique.
Pairs Head 2017
Timing system was Webscorer. I was on the backup stopwatch (TAG Heuer HL400) at the Start. Straightforward to time the start. Really efficiently organised by BBL, with timing HQ at the new Fulham Reach Boat Club.
Veteran Fours Head 2017
We had a big team from KCL, and a smaller team from QBC, as well as other volunteers. We had enough people to run Intermediate timing. I mucked up where the intermediate station was, though! Last year the exact half way mark was at Chiswick Pier, but I had overlooked that it was on the flood, whereas this year’s race was on the ebb as normal.
So our intermediates were at 37% of the race run. Nevertheless, it is interesting to see how close the splits are. Almost all are within about 1% of each other.
Technically our system performed perfectly. We had real time results from all three timing stations. But we had an operational glitch at the Start, which meant that we had to do a manual correction to times before publishing them.
This year we did photos of finishers instead of video. It is much better. You can view all the images in about an hour, and you can zoom in to see boat identification numbers if they have no bow number. We never need the time from video, as it is an inaccurate time in any event.
We used the new TAG Heuer HL400 watches as backup to the Timy’s. Times from the watches were on average about 0.1s different from the Timy’s. Given they have different operators, with different reaction times, that is remarkably close. When we insert a time from the backup (e.g. if the Timy missed one) then we average five before and five after to find the offset, before inserting a time. This is the recommended FISA procedure.
Scullers Head 2017
This race ran on the flood, starting at 09:30, at the Mile Post, and finishing at Chiswick Staithe.
I was on the backup watch at the Finish. It was a brutally cold day. I did not envy the competitors being on the water waiting to start.
The striking thing about the Scullers Head is the constant stream of boats. I didn’t count them, but there are times when maybe 20 boats finish one after another, with no pause. There is no time to correct mistakes or compare notes with the other timers.
The bow numbers are simply not visible to the timers. You rely on the spotters with binoculars to identify the crews. And then you have the problem of who they are talking about. Is it the one just approaching? Or the one further away? Or the one just past? In the end, on the watch, you just press the button and hope that it will be matched to the correct sequence.