Team Firefly Virtual BCN Challenge 2020 Cruise Log

[john6767]

Seems like everyone is trying to pass on the blame! Is BBQ giraffe even a thing? By the way, his name was Geoffrey...

[TheBiscuits]

34 minutes ago, cheshire~rose said:

I suspect Biscuits 

Not me.  @smudgepuss was eating orange food earlier though.

[cheshire~rose]

9 minutes ago, john6767 said:

Seems like everyone is trying to pass on the blame! Is BBQ giraffe even a thing? By the way, his name was Geoffrey...

Team Urban Moorings have past experience with giraffes

 

[Rob-M]

Did I see a giraffe outside the arena...

 

[john6767]

Sorry to say that’s not our Geoff. He is less angular, what with him being an inflatable giraffe!

Edited May 9, 2020 by john6767

[smudgepuss]

I found him!

 

 

He was really enjoying exploring the old canals, and heard me talking about the old canal that used to run behind my house, so he snuck into my bag to come and see that one too!

Edited May 9, 2020 by smudgepuss
Typo

[cheshire~rose]

Out of interest, did anyone in your team calculate the total miles and locks you covered during the challenge? If you have already mentioned it in the thread somewhere forgive me, I am asking because I am too lasy to go through 14 threads to find if the information has already been shared

[john6767]

5 minutes ago, cheshire~rose said:

Out of interest, did anyone in your team calculate the total miles and locks you covered during the challenge? If you have already mentioned it in the thread somewhere forgive me, I am asking because I am too lasy to go through 14 threads to find if the information has already been shared

from the planner sheet!

 

locks  =SUM(B33,H33,N33,T33,Z33,AF33)

miles  =SUM(C33,I33,O33,U33,AA33,AG33)

[cheshire~rose]

2 minutes ago, john6767 said:

from the planner sheet!

 

locks  =SUM(B33,H33,N33,T33,Z33,AF33)

miles  =SUM(C33,I33,O33,U33,AA33,AG33)

I don't have everyone's full planner sheet, many just sent a screenshot daily

 

[john6767]

Just now, cheshire~rose said:

I don't have everyone's full planner sheet, many just sent a screenshot daily

 

What, so so are having to do this on paper, bummer.  I assumed you would just import everone's sheet into a template and job done.

 

You have ours though, but rounded to the neaerst integer,  locks = 148,  miles = 73

 

 

points  =SUM(E33,K33,Q33,W33,AC33,AI33)    to nearest integer = 377

[cheshire~rose]

No it's not on paper, it s on a spreadsheet but I am transfering the points for each bit into a master sheet just for the scores and don't have each teams fully completed spreadsheet

[Rob-M]

18 minutes ago, john6767 said:

What, so so are having to do this on paper, bummer.  I assumed you would just import everone's sheet into a template and job done.

 

You have ours though, but rounded to the neaerst integer,  locks = 148,  miles = 73

 

 

points  =SUM(E33,K33,Q33,W33,AC33,AI33)    to nearest integer = 377

Was that rounded up or down...?

Edited May 10, 2020 by Rob-M

[john6767]

Just now, Rob-M said:

Was that found up or down...?

They are rounded.  Jan is using presumably using the submitted spreadsheet for the actuals; but if you want the decimal values,  locks=147.624, miles=72.888

[Rob-M]

3 minutes ago, john6767 said:

They are rounded.  Jan is using presumably using the submitted spreadsheet for the actuals; but if you want the decimal values,  locks=147.624, miles=72.888

I wasn't refering to the final sums, I was referring to the individual figures. If different teams have rounded differently then totals could be massively different, I've not looked at the planning sheet to know if Cheshire Rose rounded everything to the nearest .5.

[john6767]

8 minutes ago, Rob-M said:

I wasn't refering to the final sums, I was referring to the individual figures. If different teams have rounded differently then totals could be massively different, I've not looked at the planning sheet to know if Cheshire Rose rounded everything to the nearest .5.

I guess how the organisers do the calculation from the raw data is their intellectual property.

[RebelMike]

41 minutes ago, cheshire~rose said:

I don't have everyone's full planner sheet, many just sent a screenshot daily

 

I'm not sure why teams wouldn't submit their spreadsheet!  Although I guess you need to double check everything anyway so maybe it wouldn't have helped that much.

 

9 minutes ago, Rob-M said:

I wasn't refering to the final sums, I was referring to the individual figures. If different teams have rounded differently then totals could be massively different, I've not looked at the planning sheet to know if Cheshire Rose rounded everything to the nearest .5.

We rounded everything to the nearest 0.5 miles, as is done on the normal challenge.  Given the partially completed sections don't score rule, I think different team's choice of rounding should only need to be considered for determining if they exceeded 7 hours/day.

[john6767]

6 minutes ago, RebelMike said:

I'm not sure why teams wouldn't submit their spreadsheet!  Although I guess you need to double check everything anyway so maybe it wouldn't have helped that much.

 

We rounded everything to the nearest 0.5 miles, as is done on the normal challenge.  Given the partially completed sections don't score rule, I think different team's choice of rounding should only need to be considered for determining if they exceeded 7 hours/day.

The rounding of individual parts is an interesting one, I don't actually know how the real challenge do it either, but presumably different organisers have done it differently.  When we have done part of a section we have always provided the actual distance we did to the point where we turned (for example).

[Captain Pegg]

2 minutes ago, john6767 said:

The rounding of individual parts is an interesting one, I don't actually know how the real challenge do it either, but presumably different organisers have done it differently.  When we have done part of a section we have always provided the actual distance we did to the point where we turned (for example).

So you can arrive somewhere within 7 hours that you wouldn’t have done by the scoresheet?

Edited May 10, 2020 by Captain Pegg

[TheBiscuits]

30 minutes ago, john6767 said:

I guess how the organisers do the calculation from the raw data is their intellectual property.

 

What, you think they know?

[john6767]

12 minutes ago, Captain Pegg said:

So you can arrive somewhere within 7 hours that you wouldn’t have done by the scoresheet?

The sheet does not define partial sections, so you can only go with what you think for that plan. 

 

I initially thought that you would not be allowed to stop overnight at arms that are part way along a section, and asked if that was the case or not, and got confirmation that as long as the arm was one include in the challenge you could do that.  So that means that there is a calculation that the organisers are doing that we have no knowledge of, so for planning purposes you have to assume a best guess.  Similarly with the penalty for exceeding 7 hours, there is no information on the algorithm being used, so again we just picked what we thought was reasonable one to use for planning.  The actual scores will of course be by the organisers schema for those things so what anyone says for their locks/miles etc is only what their plan interpretation is.

[Captain Pegg]

7 minutes ago, john6767 said:

The sheet does not define partial sections, so you can only go with what you think for that plan. 

 

I initially thought that you would not be allowed to stop overnight at arms that are part way along a section, and asked if that was the case or not, and got confirmation that as long as the arm was one include in the challenge you could do that.  So that means that there is a calculation that the organisers are doing that we have no knowledge of, so for planning purposes you have to assume a best guess.  Similarly with the penalty for exceeding 7 hours, there is no information on the algorithm being used, so again we just picked what we thought was reasonable one to use for planning.  The actual scores will of course be by the organisers schema for those things so what anyone says for their locks/miles etc is only what their plan interpretation is.

I’m only fully familiar with your first two days and as far I can tell neither of them fully stack up. You moored on both nights at recognised junctions and I know enough about your next two days to know that you moored at the same recognised junction on both of those. That’s why I say it’s a smokescreen.

 

If I search further will I find more ‘interpretation’?

 

Yes the adjudicators will have the final say but if you win wouldn’t you like it to be with a scoresheet that passes the scrutiny of your peers, having been compiled on an equal basis?

[TheBiscuits]

1 hour ago, Captain Pegg said:

with a scoresheet that passes the scrutiny of your peers

 

I'm certain that John used his usual, non-cheating routeplanner with the other 60 miles added to it.

 

The final scoring certainly reflects that.

 

 

 

 

[john6767]

The following is the route that we took.  In terms of points and how the way the penalty works there is no point in me putting anything on, as its the organisers method that counts, and what I used was to allow us to plan.  Enjoy...

 

DAY 1
Ogley Locks, Ogley to Huddlesford
Ogley Junction to Anglesey and return
Catshill Junction to Ogley Junction
Sandhills Arm and Return
Pelsall Junction to Catshill Junction
Gilpins Arm and return
Time = 7.05 hours, penalty for 0.05 hours over

 

DAY 2
Pelsall Jnt to Fishley Jnt 
Lord Hayes Branch and return
Fishley Jnt to Pelsall Jnt (duplication no points)
Cannock Ext Canal to Watling Street
Cannock Ext Watling St to Rumer Hill Jnct
Cannock Hill Ext Rumer Hill to Hednesford and return
Hatherton Branch (incl. Church Bridge Locks)
Hatherton Jct to Aldersley Jct (via S & W) (no points, no penalty)
Time = 6.97 hours to Hatherton Junction (based on our assumption for Pelsall Jnt to Fishley Jnt)

 

DAY 3
Aldersley Jnct to Horseley Field Jct
Horseley Field Jct to Wednesfield Jct
Bentley Canal
Anson Branch Jnct to Bentley Canal Jct
Anson Branch Jnct to Walsall Jct
Walsall Jnct to Birchills Jct
Time = 7.05 hours, penalty for 0.05 hours over

DAY 4
Birchills Jct to Sneyd Junction
Wyrley Bank Branch and return
Essington Locks Branch and return
Sneyd Jct to Birchills Jct (duplication no points)
Time = 6.87 hours

 

DAY 5
Birchills Jct to Walsall Jct
Walsall Jct to Anson Branch Jct (duplication no points)
Anson Branch Jct to Moorcroft Jct
Bradley Locks, Moorcroft Jct to Bradley Locks Jct
Old Main Line, Ocker Hill Jct to Bradley Locks Jct
Ocker Hill Branch and Return
Old Main Line, Bloomfield to Ocker Hill Jct
Time = 6.83 hours

 

DAY 6
Factory Jct to Bloomfield Jct
Factory Jct to Watery Lane Jct
Watery Lane Jct to Dudley Port Jct
Albion Jct to Dudley Port Jct
Pudding Green Jct to Albion Jct
Pudding Green Jct to Ryders Green Jct
Riders Green Jct to Toll End Jct
Danks Branch and return
Toll End Communication Canal
Tipton Green Canal
Titpton Green Jct to Factory Jct
Factory Jct to Bloomfield Jct (duplication no points)
Bloomfield Jct to Deepfield Jct
Deepfield Jct to Bradley Workshop
Bradley Loop
Time = 6.75 hours

[Captain Pegg]

It’s not actually an assumption that 6.25 furlongs is closer to 0.5 miles than 1 mile though is it?

 

I think you’re a step ahead of the organisers, not so your fellow competitors.

[Rob-M]

I think if this was run again then the penalties for being over should be a much bigger deduction of the days cruising total as some teams clearly planned to fit their cruising in to be under 7 hours and not go over knowing full well that losing 5 minutes in penalties was more than made up for by fitting in a few more sections. I guess it's down to the spirit in which the competition is entered in to.