Part I: Which race? Choose a city (8 points)
When you write your proposal, you’ll need to tell your sponsor about the costs and risks
involved in the race you’ve chosen. You’ll investigate these in Part I.
1. Which city did you pick and why? (2 points)
2. What is one common boating hazard in this city? (2 points)
3. What are your total travel expenses? (4 points: 2 points for airfare/hotel. 1 point for total)
Your proposal will also discuss how likely it is that you’ll win the race. In Part II, you’ll
calculate your average race speed for the type of boat you’ve chosen.
1. Which boat did you choose and why? (2 points)
2. What is one advantage of your boat? (2 points)
3. What is one disadvantage of your boat? (2 points)
4. For the city and boat you picked above, what were the speeds of your last three races (in
knots)? (2 points)
5. What is your average race speed? (2 points
Part III: The Olympic triangle (22 points)
1.Draw a sketch of the short course triangle below, labeling the points A, B, and C. Don’t draw
it on your master map yet! (3 points)
3. Where do you start? (3 points)
4. What are the measures for angles B and C? (3 points)
5. What is the measure for angle A? (3 points)
6. What do you know about the distance between each buoy? (3 points)
7. The wind is blowing opposite to leg AB. Given the fact that you’re traveling in a
wind-powered boat, which leg of the course will take you the longest? Why? (4 points)
Your sponsor will need to know how your average speeds compare to the speeds of past
winners. In Part IV, you’ll find out how to calculate boat speeds in knots (nautical miles per
hour).
1. What was the winning time of last year’s race for your city and boat? (2 points, one for
each leg)
2. Do you know how fast last year’s winner was traveling? (2 points)
3. What information do you need to know to calculate last year’s winning speed? Remember,
the distance traveled (length of the course) is equal to the rate (boat’s speed) times the time.
(2 points)
A nautical mile is 6076 feet. A speed of one nautical mile per hour is a knot. In the next two
questions, you will convert a speed in feet per minute to knots.
4. If you travel 1000 feet in 5 minutes, what is your speed in feet per minute? (1 point)
5. What is your speed in knots? Hint: Use the number of minutes in an hour to convert the
speed to feet per hour. Then use the number of feet in a nautical mile to convert feet per
hour to knots. (2 points: 1 point for finding the speed in feet/hr, 1 point for converting to
knots)
In Part V, you’re going to use your knowledge of parallax to find the distance of the race
course. Below is a grid to draw your Master map on. Use this to draw your parallax triangles
and distances. Don’t worry about drawing your map to scale. The grid is there to help you
draw straighter lines.
1. What are the two landmarks from your city that you’ll use for parallax? (2 points)
2. What is the distance between your two landmarks? (2 points
3. Call the North Landmark L1 and the South Landmark L2. Sketch the points L1 and L2 on your map. (2 points)
5. Call your fixed point P. Sketch the point P onto the map. (2 points)
6. What is the distance from your fixed point P to the line between L1 and L2 (called L1L2)?
(2 points)
7. Draw the line from your fixed point P to the line L1L2 and add to the length of this line. (2
points)
8. Label the point of intersection between line L1L2 and the new line as point D. (2 points)
9. What is the distance from L1 to D? That is, what is the measure of the line segment L1D?
Hint: review the diagram in “The Race Course” section of the Performance Task. (2 points)
(2 points)
Part VI: Solving the problem. (10 points)
In Parts VI, VII, and VIII, you’ll use your map to find the length of the race course. Knowing
the distance will allow you to find the average speed of last year’s winner.
Draw the Olympic triangle on your map.
1. Buoy marker A was set so that it’s in a perfect line of sight with the hazard buoy and the
landmark L2. Draw buoy A so that it’s in the proper line. You can choose the position of buoy
A. (2 points)
2. The first leg of the racing triangle AB runs parallel to the bridge. Draw this line. (2 points)
3. Buoy marker B was set so that it’s in a perfect line of sight with the hazard buoy and the
landmark L1. Draw buoy B so that it’s on the parallax line. (2 points)
4. Sketch buoy marker C, remembering what you know about the Olympic triangle. Don’t
worry if your drawing is not to scale. (2 points)
5. What is the distance from the hazard buoy to racing buoy A? Hint: review the diagram in
“The Race Course” section of the Performance Task. Write this distance on your map. (2
points)
Part VII: Calculate the distances. (23 points)
1. What is the distance from the hazard buoy P to the southern landmark L2? Use this
formula: , where d is the distance from P to L2, DL2 is the distance from D
to L2, and PD is the distance from P to D. Round to the nearest foot. (5 points)
3. What is the distance between buoy A and B? (5 points)
4. What are the lengths of the other two triangle legs? (4 points: 2 points each)
Remember what you know about the shape of the Race Course.
5. What is the total length of the race course? (4 points: 3 for calculation, 1 for answer)
Part VIII: Calculate the winner’s speed. (10 points)
1. What was the winner’s speed during last year’s race? (5 points: 3 points for speed. 2
points for conversion to knots).
Part IX: Write your proposal. (8 points)
Now it’s time to make your proposal to the sponsor. Your sponsor will have their logo on your
boat, so they want to be sure it’s likely to do well. The sponsor also needs to know what the
expenses and risks are, so they know how much their investment in you will cost.
1. Complete the table to summarize the results of your study. (4 points)
Category: Race:
Risk Analysis: Itemized Travel Cost
Safety hazards
Competitive
Analysis:
My time and speed
Last year’s winning time
and speed
Reward Analysis: My chances of winning
2. Write a summary paragraph explaining why the sponsor should accept your proposal. (4
points
