Sea & Shore Treasure Hunt

Welcome to outTreasure Hunt home Site.

This is a Virtual Treasure Hunt – Anybody with a computer can take part.

Each Treasure Hunt starts at the same place (probably somewhere in the Solent).  You will be given a clue or destination on arrival at the starting point.   Answering the correct answer to the clue provides you with the next clue or destination.  The objective is to arrive at the final destination by the allocated end-time (conceptualy, whrn the awards and dinner start, that evening)

Clues

There will be 2 types of clue:

1. Nautical Clues, eg.
   1. Destinations wil be given in terms of a waypont (latitude/longitude); you will be deemd to have “arrived” when you are within 0.25 nautical miles ot hte destination
   2. Make your way to the buoy with the light signa  GpFl3 Green (5s)
   3. Sail to Bembridge
2. Shore Clues, eg.
   1. Use Google Street View to find the name of the shop with the green facade on the High Street.
   2. What is he name of the street to your left

When you arrive, at a destination, this will unlock the next clue.  An example set of clues may be:

1. Start at Lymmington.   Final objective is to arrive at Ginns Farm by 18:00, but first you must complete the following tasks
2. Sail to Yarmouth
3. What is written on the Vectis Blue bus, in the Bus Station
4. What is the name of the black and white pub on Bridge Road
5. Return to your boat and sail to Ginns Farm

You wil be able to read clues on the website.  Your answers should be typed into the website.  If you get the answer correct, the next clue or destination will be revealed.

Monitoring Progress

The website will show a map, of the locations of all contestant’s boats, and a current ranking (which may be quite arbitrary)

Making Progress

Progress is goverened by our software, and is recalculated every 15 minutes through the day.

Every 15 minutes, each boat’s progres is calculated as a factor of its heading, wind direction (currently we assume there are no tidal effects), wind strength, and how many reefs you have (too much wind and too few reefs will slow you down).

The treasue hunt works in real-time, so you need to check emails and the website for impotant changes during the course of the day.

The website will record various aspects of your Treasure Hunt, for you to review afterward.

Sailing

Your Boat

Your boat is a GX One Design Sailing Boat.  It is governed by knortikal konstraints (built into our software).  Probably the One Design will evolve as the software develops.

Steering

You define a heading, that your boat is sailing.  You can change your heading at any point through the day.  The One Design responds differently, on different points of sailing.  You cannot sail directly into the wind.  Maximum speed is usually on a broad reach.  We wil produce a chart showing the performance on different wind angles.

You can setup a plan to sail, ahead of real-time, and add a comment. eg.

1. 10:00 – 340 degrees, 0 reef
2. 10:15 – 050 degrees, 0 reef
3. 10:30 – 340 degrees, 1 reef
4. 12:00 – 050 degrees, 2 reef

 Be careful about planning too far ahead, as there may be an unexpected wind-shift that affects your sailing.  On the other hand, if you need to away from the computer, this provides a way to take part.

Weather

Sailing and weather is simulated by our software.  In particular, the wind may change strength and direction throughout the day.

Obstructions (Land, Other Boats, Ships).

You cannot sail over land or through obstructions, but all water is sailable.

If you collide with anything, (i.e you come within 50m of another boat), or the land, you will be randomly dropped somewhere else in the solent.  This may or may not work to your advantage!

Starting & Ending the Treasure Hunt

Starting

To allow for a common start time, sailing starts will begin with no wind, but a forecast.  As we know, sailing boats require wind to sail;  The wind will come-up at the designated start time.

Ending

You win by being the first person to answer the final clue correctly.

The Treasure Hunt will be ended automatically after 12 hours.

Players that haven’t finished will be allocated a ranking based on the number of clues they’ve answered, and proximity to the end point.

Prizes

Prizes (your name in lights on the GXSA website) will be awarded after the Treasure Hunt.  

Using the website

We don’t intend to write a Mobile Phone App, but the website will be responsive, so should render correctly on a mobile browser. Registering

Registration

A simple process:

1. Connect to the website
2. Create an account/boat, using your email address.
3. Choose a Treasure Hunt that you want to take part in (usually the curent Hunt)
4. Adjust your starting parameters
5. Come back to the website at regular intervals to observe your progress, and make adjustments.

Types of Play

Cruising

We will retain all previous Treasure Hunts online, so non-competitive players can run these events at any time.  The start time will be whenever the player chooses.  We won’t keep rankings for Cruising sailors.

Racing

Racing sailors will need to commit real-time interventions in order to get the best from their game.