Sorry to miss this one, but I was busy helping my dad do something I hadn't done since I was a teen: setting up backyard farms. Given everything that's happening these days, it seems like a good idea. Congrats to everyone who participated, and I look forward to catching up on the thread at my even more limited leisure.
The Buckyball Racing Club presents: Time And Motion Study (28.03.3311 - 07.04.3311)
- Thread starter Alec Turner
- Start date
Right then everyone, it's the moment you've been waiting for ... time to reveal the final results!
In regulation class Edelgard von Rhein took 30 seconds off their estimate and had a smooth run with one obscured jump (did anyone not have at least one obscured jump?), taking another 30 seconds off that to finish 10th with a final time of 16:29. In 9th place jspace entered the fray, nicely undercutting their 16:20 estimate by just 6 seconds. Up in 8th and Martinjameson was back again, taking 10 seconds off their estimate but missing that by 5 for a final time of 15:50 (coincidentally exactly matching their previous estimate). Further up and Ozric was back with a significantly bolder claim of 15:15 but missed it by 9 seconds to finish 5th with a time of 15:33 (just 1 second faster than yours truly). Meanwhile in 4th place, Tobias Von Brandt has been fighting a valiant battle here, pushing his prediction down by 35 seconds but missing it by 12 to finish 24 seconds outside the 15 minute barrier. Smashing through that barrier however is Cmdr Sulu with a fantastic 14:29 run. Confident enough to predict sub-15, Sulu finishes 3rd with a time of 14:50. Last of the final round of regulation submissions, Kevin The Stabber made a last second run, took another 15 seconds off his estimate, and beat that by just 2 seconds for a superb 14:10 2nd place finish. And that means that the winner of regulation class is Cmdr Sgurr with his quite extraordinary final time of 13:28.
Over in unlimited class and Cmdr Raiko managed to squeeze in a run using an Eagle Mk II, estimating an 8th place 14:25 but missing it by 29 seconds to finish 10th with a time of 15:23. Another new entry from LeroyJethroTull at the rear of a pack of Sidewinders, they beat their 14:50 estimate by just 3 seconds to finish 8th. Next and Martinjameson's Windsey Whippet shaves further seconds off its time, spanning the turn of midnight to finish 7th with an excellent 14:15. And lastly, two new entries right up at the top. First up and Cmdr Alot is back, clearly getting to grips with supercruise overcharge now and completing the run in 13:18 (theoretically a 2nd place time), he finishes 3rd after estimating a time of 13:37. But the highest of our new entries is Darplata94 who's run was only 4 seconds shy of the 13 minute barrier. Flying an unengineered Mandalay which was brought up to racing spec' with spare parts, their 13:30 estimate means they take 2nd place. And that means in first place it's the one and only Shaye Blackwood who's early lead flying an Imperial Clipper round the course in twelve and a half minutes was never beaten.
Congratulations to everyone for their excellent work carrying out this time and motion study. You've learned to recognise and accurately predict your capabilities and then to say to hell with that and go even faster. I salute every single one of you - o7. And as for those at the top, you are true ambassadors of the Buckyball Racing spirit!
REGULATION CLASS WINNERS
1) Sgurr
2) Kevin The Stabber
3) Sulu
UNLIMITED CLASS WINNERS
1) Shaye Blackwood
2) Darplata94
3) Alot
In regulation class Edelgard von Rhein took 30 seconds off their estimate and had a smooth run with one obscured jump (did anyone not have at least one obscured jump?), taking another 30 seconds off that to finish 10th with a final time of 16:29. In 9th place jspace entered the fray, nicely undercutting their 16:20 estimate by just 6 seconds. Up in 8th and Martinjameson was back again, taking 10 seconds off their estimate but missing that by 5 for a final time of 15:50 (coincidentally exactly matching their previous estimate). Further up and Ozric was back with a significantly bolder claim of 15:15 but missed it by 9 seconds to finish 5th with a time of 15:33 (just 1 second faster than yours truly). Meanwhile in 4th place, Tobias Von Brandt has been fighting a valiant battle here, pushing his prediction down by 35 seconds but missing it by 12 to finish 24 seconds outside the 15 minute barrier. Smashing through that barrier however is Cmdr Sulu with a fantastic 14:29 run. Confident enough to predict sub-15, Sulu finishes 3rd with a time of 14:50. Last of the final round of regulation submissions, Kevin The Stabber made a last second run, took another 15 seconds off his estimate, and beat that by just 2 seconds for a superb 14:10 2nd place finish. And that means that the winner of regulation class is Cmdr Sgurr with his quite extraordinary final time of 13:28.
Over in unlimited class and Cmdr Raiko managed to squeeze in a run using an Eagle Mk II, estimating an 8th place 14:25 but missing it by 29 seconds to finish 10th with a time of 15:23. Another new entry from LeroyJethroTull at the rear of a pack of Sidewinders, they beat their 14:50 estimate by just 3 seconds to finish 8th. Next and Martinjameson's Windsey Whippet shaves further seconds off its time, spanning the turn of midnight to finish 7th with an excellent 14:15. And lastly, two new entries right up at the top. First up and Cmdr Alot is back, clearly getting to grips with supercruise overcharge now and completing the run in 13:18 (theoretically a 2nd place time), he finishes 3rd after estimating a time of 13:37. But the highest of our new entries is Darplata94 who's run was only 4 seconds shy of the 13 minute barrier. Flying an unengineered Mandalay which was brought up to racing spec' with spare parts, their 13:30 estimate means they take 2nd place. And that means in first place it's the one and only Shaye Blackwood who's early lead flying an Imperial Clipper round the course in twelve and a half minutes was never beaten.
Congratulations to everyone for their excellent work carrying out this time and motion study. You've learned to recognise and accurately predict your capabilities and then to say to hell with that and go even faster. I salute every single one of you - o7. And as for those at the top, you are true ambassadors of the Buckyball Racing spirit!
REGULATION CLASS WINNERS
1) Sgurr
2) Kevin The Stabber
3) Sulu
UNLIMITED CLASS WINNERS
1) Shaye Blackwood
2) Darplata94
3) Alot
Last edited:
Post is up! Sorry, I get obsessions and I can’t help crowbaring them into my race posts. 
edrushfleet.co.uk
Pluto Time!
The dwarf planet, Pluto. A bit better lit than it appears in game. It’s Saturday 29th March, 2025. Around a quarter to six in the morning. It’s a wonderful time of day. My favourite tim…
edrushfleet.co.uk
With my limited race time I am glad I concentrated on regulation. Tobias and I were swapping spots like nobody`s business but I was determined to beat that dammed 15 minute barrier. Finally by Saturday I knew I could beat it. The bonus of 3rd place is also nice but I have to salute that little Cobra. With an SCO drive it still holds its own. Well done to Sgurr, Shaye, Kevin, Darplata94 and Alot for the podiums.
Great storytelling, once again.Post is up! Sorry, I get obsessions and I can’t help crowbaring them into my race posts.
Pluto Time!
The dwarf planet, Pluto. A bit better lit than it appears in game. It’s Saturday 29th March, 2025. Around a quarter to six in the morning. It’s a wonderful time of day. My favourite tim…
Well crafted race Alec. I wish I'd been able to do more runs, but after the last jump from Lawhead Reach went below the horizon there wasn't much point. Any time I could potentially gain would be lost on the extra supercruise trip to open that jump up. This wasn't even the route I set up in scouting, that disappeared before I got around to doing my first run (same reason). With the orbital times of these tidally locked planets I had hoped the routes would work for the full race. No such luck.
I assume Darplata and Alot had one obscured jump and would have been much closer without that.
Source: https://youtu.be/NWFucEHRal4
I assume Darplata and Alot had one obscured jump and would have been much closer without that.
Ozric
Volunteer Moderator
Incredible racing from everyone, well done all! And thanks once again to Alec for hosting.
I had two obscured jumps from both the planets, every single time I raced. I could see one obvious way through in Regulation to keep them all at one jump, so just stuck to that. The SCO negates the need to play around with escape systems.
I had two obscured jumps from both the planets, every single time I raced. I could see one obvious way through in Regulation to keep them all at one jump, so just stuck to that. The SCO negates the need to play around with escape systems.
Congratulations to the winners (and I think it remarkable that the best time in Regulation would be runner-up in Unlimited)!
Thanks to Alec for staging the race. It was a good introduction to SCO and also for me to relearn planetary approaches and dockings at different stations, though I still have some way to go, which is one reason I mostly stuck to the Cobra (I made a few runs in my Imperial Eagle, Toya, but did not beat my Cobra time, though nearly managed it on Monday but for a long hyperspace tunnel on the final jump). I had at least one obscured jump every time but the SCO limits how much time is lost now, so it's not such a big deal.
Thanks to Alec for staging the race. It was a good introduction to SCO and also for me to relearn planetary approaches and dockings at different stations, though I still have some way to go, which is one reason I mostly stuck to the Cobra (I made a few runs in my Imperial Eagle, Toya, but did not beat my Cobra time, though nearly managed it on Monday but for a long hyperspace tunnel on the final jump). I had at least one obscured jump every time but the SCO limits how much time is lost now, so it's not such a big deal.
This was a fantastic race Alec, thanks very much for running it.
I've been really enjoying your quotes!
Shaye, your planetary approaches are a thing of beauty o7
Something to aspire to ...
Good racing everyone, sounds like we all nudged at our personal Buckyballing boundaries.
For those interested here's my regulation run, always ran the same route with one obscured jump.
A little annoyingly this wasn't my fastest or cleanest, but it was the run where my prediction and flying finally came together:
Source: https://youtu.be/waZWEYc0xDo?t=56
I've been really enjoying your quotes!
Shaye, your planetary approaches are a thing of beauty o7
Something to aspire to ...
Good racing everyone, sounds like we all nudged at our personal Buckyballing boundaries.
For those interested here's my regulation run, always ran the same route with one obscured jump.
A little annoyingly this wasn't my fastest or cleanest, but it was the run where my prediction and flying finally came together:
You're flying in VR, right? A little disorienting for me...
While I often put my own performances down I will not this time just for once. My 3rd place regulation run stands up for itself I hope. To put it into context that Sgurr was so much quicker. The man is so fast in that Cobra. I did really try though honest.
Source: https://youtu.be/53bXbXCehx0
Nice field of view. And some interesting landing techniques.