TackTracker's race player is a powerful visualisation tool for yacht racing. The simple,
clear graphics bring the race to life and convey exactly what you need to know.
Each track is is represented by a boat graphic of the a particular color. You can choose
the color in the Select tab. The boat may have a trailing "tail" of type selected in the
bottom control bar. For example, the "Long" tail will extend to the beginning of the
current leg.
Each boat represents the location in its track at the current time, which is indicated by the
clock at the bottom right of the screen.
One of the boats is the current boat - as highlighted in the Select tab. The statistics table
shows the speeds, distances and bearings for the current boat. You can move the
current boat in several ways, the principal way being the navigation buttons:
· Navigate back by Leg, Tack and Point
· Navigate ahead by Point, Tack and Leg.
Click the red Play button to start the player. Press again to stop. You can
speed up and slow down the action by sliding the throttle control to the left of the play
button.
TimeLine Bar
As you navigate using the buttons, you will see the currently selected boat move along
the TimeLine bar.
The TimeLine bar offers a convenient way to navigate the boat. Just click or drag with
the left mouse button.
· The Letters or numbers on the TimeLine represent the mark roundings.
· The light shaded areas are the periods before the Start and after the Finish.
· The clock to the right of the Timeline is the elapsed time since the start.
Throttle Control
Underneath the TimeLine is a throttle control.
Drag the red circle to the right to move the time forward. Drag the circle to the left to
reverse back. The further you drag the circle from the center, the faster the boats go.
When the race is playing (by pressing the red triangle Play button), the throttle control
becomes a play speed control:
Changing the Track Play
At the bottom of the screen are several controls that you can use to customize the race
play:
Control
Purpose
Track
Track the current boat by keeping it in the center of
the display.
Auto
Automatically pan and zoom during the race
replay. This feature is designed for unattended
replays - such as on a large screen at the bar.
· Rotate so the line of the first beat is directly up
the screen.
· Zoom in on the start line at the start.
· Track the top third of the fleet and zoom
accordingly
· Zoom in and linger at mark roundings
· Slow down around marks and at the start and
finish.
You can configure the Auto mode replay speeds in
the Settings dialog.
No Tail
Short Tail
Short Leader
Long Tail
Full Path
Various options for the tail and leader lines
indicating the path travelled by each boat.
No Tail: Only the boats are displayed
Short Tail: A short tail or "worm" trail is displayed
Short Leader: A short tail and a leader trail are
displayed
Long Tail: The tail extends back to the start of the
leg.
Full Path: A grey leader also shows the path to the
next mark.
No Text
Names
VMG
Speed
No Text: No
boat names are displayed
Names: Show boat names VMG: Show each boat's VMG underneath the
name. Speed: Show each boat's Speed underneath the
name.
Note: You can select the VMG and speed units in
the Settings dialog. (Click the Settings button on
the top left of the window.)
Note: You can also see a boats current VMG and
speed by hovering your mouse over any boat.
Viewing Rotation and Wind Direction
At the top right corner of the track player are two indicators:
· A compass rose showing the view orientation. The arrow points North, which by
default will be straight up.
· An estimated wind direction. This will not show if the wind direction could not be
determined.
Rotating the View
You can rotate the track by clicking on the compass rose with the Left mouse button, and
dragging the mouse in an arc within the circle. The North Arrow will point to the location
of the mouse. Release the mouse button whilst the mouse is inside the circle to keep the
new orientation.
Adjusting the Wind Direction
The prevailing wind direction is estimated by the software and appears under the
compass rose. You can override TackTracker's estimate and build your own wind profile
for the event.
Adjusting the wind direction is important if you wish to use TackTracker's VMG to Wind
measurements. Also, upwind legs, a line is drawn perpendicular to the wind direction
across the current boat in the fleet. You can use this line as a guide to determine who is
in front and behind the current boat across the course. But it is only useful if the Wind
direction is correct.
You have two options for entering wind data into TackTracker:
1. Manually enter wind directions in the Track plot window
To manually enter a wind direction, click on the wind indicator and wind controls will
appear in the plot window:
As with the Compass rose, you can adjust the wind direction by clicking on the wind icon
and rotating it with the mouse. Alternatively, you can type the bearing in the text box.
When you are happy with your wind change, click Apply. Your new wind direction will
take effect from the current time onwards in the playback.
You can change the direction multiple times during the race to build a profile. Each
change is recorded in the History box.
You can click on the items in the History to navigate to that point in time. You can also
delete the wind change if desired.
Panning and Zooming
When a track is first displayed, it is zoomed so that it just fits the window. You can use
the distance meter to get an understanding of the scale. Activate the distance meter by
clicking mouse button 1. Then move it across the screen to make a ruler. Click again to
turn it off.
To Zoom in and out, you can use the slider bar:
The slider bar zooms in and out about the center point of the screen. You may therefore
first need to drag the point of interest to the center. Dragging is discussed below.
Alternatively you may click on the '+ or '-' symbols to zoom in and out, respectively.
Most people will find it more convenient to zoom using the mouse wheel. The mouse
wheel zooms in and out about the center of the plot window.
When you zoom fully out, the track will revert to the initial "fitted" position. If required,
you
can zoom out further by clicking on the '-' symbol to the left of the slider bar.
To pan or drag the image across the screen, hold down either mouse button whilst you
move the mouse. The image will move as if it were glued to the mouse.
Note: If you have selected the Track or Auto modes, the system may automatically
pan
back to where it was after you release the mouse button. This is intended behavior.
Summary of Mouse Controls:
Mouse Control
Purpose
Button 1
(usually the left button)
Hold and drag to pan
image.
Click once for distance
meter or to lay marks.
Double click to move
to center.
Button 2
Pan image
Scroll Wheel
Zoom image
Fullscreen Mode:
When viewing on a large screen, you may wish to switch to Fullscreen mode. Click the icon at the top right corner of the screen to remove the window border and maximize
your screen area.
The top tab group will be hidden. Additionally, you may drag the slider bar entirely to the
left to maximise the plot area.
to start the player. Press again to stop. You can
speed up and slow down the action by sliding the throttle control to the left of the play
button.
icon at the top right corner of the screen to remove the window border and maximize
your screen area.