ezTrap

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ezTrap is a unique Microsoft Excel-based tool that enables sailboat Race Officers (RO) anywhere in the world to quickly design and manage consistent and standardized race courses.

Unique because, to the best of our knowledge, it is the only tool that instantly provides Latitudes & Longitudes of all Marks & Pins, and automatically scales up or down to meet Target Race Times.

New for 2011, a Yacht Club course that supports 'round the buoys' or do-it-yourself customized courses composed of fixed and/or moveable marks. And, also new for 2011, RS:X Windsurfer Trapezoid and W/L Slalom Courses!

Altogether, ezTrap  supports 14-different courses and 32-variations. ezTrap is available in seven Course Families and five discounted Regatta Bundles... see the Purchase & Registration page for details. 

ezTrap is intended to be used by ROs or Course-Setters on-station with access to a laptop or other PC running standard MS Excel 2003, 2007, or 2010. Basic PC skills are required; however, no special MS Excel or programming skills are needed, and learning how to use ezTrap will only take minutes. Ideally, each of the mark setting boats have GPS available to utilize the ezTrap course information; however, traditional range and bearing information to each mark are also provided.

ezTrap does not replace the need for a competent RO or Course-Setter, but it helps significantly by providing many course calculations instantly and accurately, especially the length of legs, and the Latitudes & Longitudes, bearings, and distances of all Marks and Pins. This is an example of the Mark Information, followed by the Course Information, both instantly calculated by ezTrap:

The RO has a great deal of control over the geometry of the courses, and can instantly re-calculate the orientation and size when wind direction or speed changes. These and many other features will save precious time when setting or re-setting the race course.

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Course Families

Trapezoid

RS:X Windsurfer Slalom (new in 2011)

Yacht Club Racing (new in 2011)

Triangle

Windward/Leeward

Optimist

Lipton Cup

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Trapezoid Family

The Trapezoid family is the flagship of ezTrap and contains both the 7-leg, Olympic-style Trapezoid course and the popular 6-leg Trap-6 course (shown at the top) with an adjustable finish leg.  Here's an example of a Trapezoid Course set for Lasers & Laser Radials in St. Margaret's Bay, NS, home of the 2009 Laser Worlds. The 'Reset' and 'Make Grid Square' buttons center the plot on a uniform grid of nautical miles, and tacking boxes are shown for the upwind legs.

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RS:X Windsurfer Slalom (Trapezoid and W/L)

The RS:X Windsurfer trapezoid and W/L slalom courses are new in 2011, and are consistent with the international standard. Each course type supports 1,2 or 3 rounds followed by a 4-leg, slalom finish. Here's an example of an RS:X Trapezoid course, which supports two fleets, located in Medemblik, The Netherlands.

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Yacht Club Racing

The Yacht Club course is new in 2011 of ezTrap , and supports race courses with fixed and/or moveable marks. Up to 10-fixed marks can be predefined in ezTrap , and used in any combination to create a course with up to 10-legs. Further, The RO can custom design any or all of the legs by specifying the distance and relative BRG to the next mark. The sample below uses one moveable mark for leg #1 and a combination of fixed marks for the next 5-legs.

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Triangle

Here's an example of a classic Triangle Course set for Lasers in Wellington Harbour, NZ. The RO enters the input values in the shaded boxes, and all the rest is automatic. In addition to the 3-course variations provided, the Lipton Cup Course Family includes two additional triangular course types with a total of 4-variations.

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Windward/Leeward Course

The 4-leg ezTrap Windward/Leeward Course (WL4) is available as a free download.  The WL4 and other variations are included in each Course Family and Regatta bundle. The W/L Course Family supports 5-variations including 3-7 legs and an adjustable finish. The RS:X Windsurfer W/L course variations are very similar and contain a slalom finish. Here's an example of a 7-Leg Windward/Leeward Course (WL7) off Brighton Beach, UK for keelboats with an upwind finish 2/3 of the length of the W/L leg.

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Optimist

Here's an example of an Optimist Worlds Course set off Cape Town, SA. Note that ezTrap allows the finish to be set upwind or downwind of Mark 2.

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Lipton Cup Challenge (R, T, S and O Courses)

A number of areas around the world run annual Lipton Cup Challenge regattas in honor of Sir Thomas Lipton. The cups he donated are truly magnificent examples of classic racing trophies. These regattas include rectangular, triangular, and W/L courses. Here's an example of the Rectangular R course run off Cape Town, South Africa.

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Used by:

• Race Officers and Course-setters, on-site or remote
• Race Management Committees
• Sailboat Associations & Clubs with racing programs

Features:

• Excel 2003 or 2007/2010 support.
• 14-Courses with 32-variations supported.
• W/L Courses (5) included with all course families and bundles.
• 4-leg W/L course available as a FREE download.
• Instant Latitudes & Longitudes of all Marks & Pins.
• BRGs and range to/from all Marks and RC Boat.
• Quick adjustment of course orientation, size and shape based on changing wind conditions and Target Race Times.
• Compliance with international standards for Trapezoid, Triangle, Optimist, RS:X, and Lipton Cup courses.
• Does your Club use fixed marks or buoys? Try the new Yacht Club course.

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Click for ezTrap Video Demo (12min)

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Tri-fold Brochure (0.8MB PDF)

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NEW! ezTrap v11.2b User's Manual (2.7MB PDF)

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Click below for a brief refresher of the "Essentials of Navigation" for ROs and Mark Boat Operators

PowerPoint Slides

Adobe Acrobat Handout

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