We’ve learned a lot about how to make the timing smoother. These “Pro Tips” might not seem critical, but they make a big difference.

Setup

  1. Turn off the screen lock and password. You don’t want the screen locking as your about to set a time. On your iOS device, go to the Settings app -> General -> Auto-Lock and set it to “Never”. Go to Settings -> Security & Passcode -> Turn Passcode Off.
  2. Buy styluses for the timers. The tap of a stylus is captured more accurately than the tap of a finger. Trust us, it will help you. Use a rubber tipped stylus rather than silk tip stylus. Rubber is better for tapping. Silk is better for writing. We recommend the Friendly Swede Rubber Tip Stylus on Amazon.com.
  3. Create a race timing account on HereNow. Go to GMail and create an account that you can use to create a single HereNow account for your race timers. For example, create an like henley_timing@gmail.com. Then go to https://herenow.com and click login to create a new account using the gmail address. Keep the passwords in a safe place for both the email account and the HereNow account.
  4. Do a round trip. Before racing begins, do a full round trip; take a time and verify the time in the Referee app. After the test, delete the time using the “Edit Times” feature in the Referee app. This guards against SO many types of issues.
  5. Strict Bow Numbers. One of the simplest things you can do to make it easier on yourselves at the finish is to have the person launching boats ensure that each boat goes out with the correct bow number. If they are “lenient” it leads to chaos all over the race course.

Operations

  1. Refresh the app Once you get to the timing station and the iPad is on the internet, refresh the timer web page. This ensures that all data is correct and all connections are set up correctly. If you have a lunch break, refresh again at lunchtime.
  2. Concentrate on getting times; not bow numbers. When you are using the Timer app, your main job is to get times. Some else is writing down the bow numbers. When you have a break in the boats, ask the person writing down bow numbers for the bow order.
  3. Close the keyboard. The keyboard will sometimes (not always) hide the button that takes times. Make it an ingrained habit to close the keyboard immediately when you’re done entering bow numbers.
  4. Hold the iPad at eye level. Don’t hold the iPad at your waist. Hold it up in front of you at eye-level so that you can see the boats and the iPad at the same time.
  5. It is better to get a time late than not get a time at all. If something happens and you are late getting a time, still take a time. It will help you keep track of where you are and it is easier to line up the times with a bow number list.

Up: Return to the Timer app documentation