Nav Rally

Overview

MCYS runs Nav Rally Time Trial events for power and sail on courses starting & finishing in Dromana Bay near the entrance to Martha Cove. Specific events will be announced and advertised via the Events Calendar on our website.

What is a Nav Rally

A "Nav Rally" or Navigation Rally, also known as a “Time Trial” or “Predicted Log” event,

is a fun competitive event for power and sail boats motoring under power.
it is not a race.
accurately navigate a defined GPS course at your chosen constant speed over ground
try to arrive at each waypoint at the predicted time
1 penalty point for each second early or late at each mark
winner is the boat with the least penalty points

Boats start individually at their allocated start time,

Slower boats start first at 2 minute intervals
faster boats have delayed starts to minimize prospect of overtaking slower boats.

It’s easy, fun, competitive and will improve boat handling and navigation skills.

Social Get Togethers Afterward

A Nav Rally event provides good socializing opportunities for guests and crew on board, and with other boats for a raft up or similar afterwards.

Nav Rally is popular at many clubs

Nav Rally events have a long history in many yacht clubs in Australia. It is especially popular at many Perth yacht clubs, where they call it Time Trialling. It is also practised at clubs in Port Phillip, notably Royal Victorian Motor Yacht Club and Sandringham Yacht Club.

South of Perth Yacht Club presents a good introduction of What is Time Trialling with a Video as practiced in WA. Their detailed practices are different from ours, but the concept is well presented.

MCYS Nav Rally Practice

We've researched and talked to other clubs in Port Phillip and in WA to see how they do it.
We've put together a modern, simplified variation to suit MCYS:

no sign boards or manned check points,
GPS Course provided as .GPX file to load into your chart plotter
Predicted Log Form provided with all leg distances, bearings, and times
requirement to travel at constant speed over ground (compensations allowed)
Self timing at each waypoint - each boat records its own times
no intermediate check points between waypoints

Our emphasis is on fun, social events not hard core competition. With a view to participating with other Port Phillip clubs.

Learn about the details in our MCYS Nav Rally Instructions.pdf

The main steps to participate are:

Register for the event and specify your boat and crew details
Download & Familiarize with the Course details
Choose your nominated constant boat speed 5-15 knots (?)
Receive your custom Log Form and a .GPX file for the route
Load the route.gpx file into your chart plotter or mobile app
Navigate the course according to the Nav Rally rules
Accurately record the times you pass each mark
Send your completed Log Form to the event officer for scoring

We've run some trials and are now planning a series of courses and events to run during the coming 2024-25 boating season. Stay tuned. Or get involved now!

NAV Rally Courses

courses typically 8-12 Nm designed to suit Nav Rally practices and boat speeds
use "Virtual Marks" usually located 200 metres from corresponding physical marks
keep clear from possible traffic in shipping channel and 5 knot speed zones along the beaches

Course Description Documents available from several locations

Download course Description documents for details for each course and print in colour for you & your crew's easy reference on the day.

Course pages on MCYS Members Website under Nav Rally pull down menu
as Attached Files in Nav Rally Events in the Events Calendar
as downloadable PDF files on the Sportspage Courses web page

NAV 1S was our initial trial course. It started near Yellow 2 and used 100m Virtual Marks. It is now discontinued in favour of improved courses.

GPS Chart Plotter or Mobile Device App

You will need either a GPS Chart Plotter on your boat, or a GPS boating navigation app on your mobile phone or tablet.

The nav rally course is provided as a .GPX file which you can automatically load into your mobile app or compatible chart plotter. Or in the worst case, you can manually enter the Lat/Long coordinates of the waypoints into your chart plotter.

We've reviewed several mobile apps for suitability and report in detail with screenshots of some of them. If you don't have a suitable chart plotter on your boat these are very usable. See GPS Nav Apps for Nav Rally" pdf file.

Short story: we suggest TZ iBoat or iSailor for iPhone/iPad - available from Apple App Store. Or Navionics Boating or iBoating for Android - available from Google Play.